Fabrication and shape evolution of petal-like Cu2O nanocrystal toward enhanced photoactivity and stability for hydrogen generation under visible light irradiation.

Controllable Cu 2 O nanocrystals with petal-like structure were successfully synthesized by the introduction of a concentrated ripening process into the methodology developed by the preparation of Cu 2 O nanocubes. The mechanism of shape evolution of petal-like Cu 2 O nanoflowers was proposed to reveal the concentrated ripening process as a novel strategy in the fabrication of special structured nanocrystals. Cu 2 O nanoflowers with petal-like structure exhibited enhanced activity and stability in hydrogen evolution compared with Cu 2 O naonocubes via the same route. The enhanced activity and stability of Cu 2 O nanoflowers was attributed to their unique petal-like sheet structure, which exhibited large BET surface area and pore volume. The results of cycle experiments also confirmed the enhanced stability of Cu 2 O nanoflower, which the H 2 evolution rate of Cu 2 O nanoflower only decreased by 5.5% after the 4th cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]