Size Control and Growth Process Study of Au@Cu(2)O Particles

Au@Cu(2)O cuboctahedron with gold triangular nanoplate core and Cu(2)O shell was synthesized by a chemical method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tests demonstrated that the as-synthesis samples were consisted of gold triangular nanoplate core and Cu(2)O shell, and both of them were in good crystallization. The effective size control of the particles could be realized by controlling the amount of Au cores added in the synthetic process and Au@Cu(2)O particles with different shell thickness could be synthesized. The decrease of Cu(2)O shell thickness had a great difference in the optical performance, including blue shift of the resonant peaks and enhanced absorption intensity. The growth process from rough sheet structure to cuboctahedron was also explored. The results of photocatalytic degradation experiment showed that Au@Cu(2)O particles showed much better photocatalytic performance than that of pure Cu(2)O. The improved photocatalytic property of the Au@Cu(2)O particles was attributed to the comprehensive effect of the enhanced visible-light absorption and high separation rate of electron-hole pairs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11671-016-1603-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.