Highly enhanced photocatalytic H ₂ evolution of Cu ₂ O microcube by coupling with TiO ₂ nanoparticles

A Cu 2 O/TiO 2 p-n heterojunction composite was created via a facile, controllable, one-pot hydrothermal method based on cubic Cu 2 O and TiO 2 nanoparticles in the presence of dioctyl sulfosuccinate sodium salt (AOT) surfactant. The TiO 2 nanoparticles with an average edge length of ∼10.1 nm were uniformly distributed on the crystal surface of a Cu 2 O cube {100}. The photocatalytic performance of the composite was effectively tuned by controlling the amount of TiO 2 . The Cu 2 O/TiO 2 (60 wt%, labeled as CT-60) exhibits the highest enhanced photocatalytic activity in hydrogen production with H 2 evolution of 3002.5 μ mol g –1 . The yield remained around 92.6% after three cycles. Hydrogen production of the CT-60 is 103 and 8.5 fold higher than the cubic Cu 2 O and TiO 2 nanoparticles, respectively. The improvement in photocatalytic performance could be attributed to the formation of p-n heterojunction. Furthermore, the interface effect of Cu 2 O and TiO 2 caused a broader absorbance in the visible-light region and the lower recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. It is believed that the Cu 2 O/TiO 2 p-n heterojunction composites could provide an alternative method to design highly efficient photocatalysts for solar energy.