Preparation, photo-catalytic activity of cuprous oxide nano-crystallites with different sizes

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nano-crystallites with different sizes were prepared via electrolysis method and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Its photo-catalytic activities in the degradation of methyl orange as the model pollutant using UV light as an energy source were investigated. The XRD patterns showed that the sizes of Cu2O nano-crystallite decreased with the increasement of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) being added into the electrolyte, which were ranging from 27 nm to 48 nm. The progress of photo-catalytic degradation of the methyl orange was observed by monitoring the concentration change of the methyl orange solution. The highest decolorization ratio of 90% was observed for the sample prepared by addition of 0.05 g/L CTAB after photo-degradating 50 mg/L of methyl orange solution for 70 min. The mechanism of photo-degradation was discussed.