Controllable sonochemical synthesis of Cu2O/Cu2(OH)3NO3 composites toward synergy of adsorption and photocatalysis.

Composites having both maximized adsorption capability and high photocatalytic activity are very promising for pollutant removal by combining adsorption and photocatalysis. In this work, we report a facile sonochemical synthesis of Cu 2 O(nanoparticles)/Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 (sheets) composites with tunable composition using only copper powders and Cu(NO 3 ) 2 as precursors. The composites can be controlled from almost pure Cu 2 O (98.1%) to pure Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 (95.9%) through adjusting the initial ratio of Cu 2+ :Cu 0 and sonication time. Controlled experiments show that Cu 2 O nanoparticles are formed first via the redox reaction between Cu 2+ and Cu 0 , after that Cu 2 O are converted to Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 . Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 synthesized using the sonochemical method exhibits outstanding adsorption capability toward organic dyes, subsequently Cu 2 O can degrade them quickly via photocatalysis, so the Cu 2 O/Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 composites are very efficient to remove pollutant due to the synergetic effect of adsorption and photocatalysis. In particular, composite with 30.6% of Cu 2 (OH) 3 NO 3 and 69.4% of Cu 2 O shows the highest removal capability and good stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]