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Abstract: Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized using copper acetate as precursors via a polyol process. The as-synthesized products were easily deposited on the surface of carbon nanofibres (CNFs) and then were characterized through XRD, FESEM, TEM and FTIR, etc. The photocatalytic performance of these composite films was evaluated using methyl orange as a model organic compound under visible light irradiation. Results showed that the shape of Cu2O nanparticles could be changed from irregular nanoparticle to cubic, flower-like particle assembled by Cu2O nanocubes with the change of the reaction conditions. All of these Cu2O/CNFs composite films showed the satisfied photocatalytic activity to methyl orange even after 3 cycles of degradation experiment due to the protectable function of carbon fibre films to the Cu2O nanocrystals. The Cu2O/CNFs composite films may offer a feasible method for the potential application of Cu2O nanocrystals in the treatment of organic contamination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Bombyx mori silk fibroin is of practical interest for its excellent intrinsic properties utilizable in the biotechnological and biomedical fields. Here, the silk fibroin films were pretreated with different methods and then used as the template for the hydroxyapatite (HA) crystal growth. To study the effect of silk films’ surface structure on the protein biomineralization, the films were immersed into 1.5 times simulated body fluid (1.5×SBF) to induce the HA deposition at 37°C. The results showed that an anisotropic growth of HA crystals was observed on the different films as judging from XRD, TEM and HRTEM data. This was thought that the positions and density of carboxyl groups, Cno groups on the surface of SF films may be different, which play the key effect on HA crystal growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]