Proceedings of nanoGe September Meeting 2017 (NFM17)
Publication date: 20th June 2016
Cu2O nanoplatelets with preferential 2.0.0 facet orientation supported on few layers graphene (fl-G) were prepared as thin films in a single step by pyrolysis at 900 0C under inert atmosphere of the Cu2+-chitosan precursor. Cu2O /fl-G films exhibit a photocatalytic activity for overall water splitting of 19.5 mmol/gCu+G·h. This value is about 4 orders of magnitude higher than the photocatalytic activity measured for unoriented Cu2O nanoparticles on few-layers graphene or than commercial Cu2O nanoparticles and about three orders of magnitude higher than the activity reported in the literature for Cu2O nanoparticles. In addition, Cu2O nanoparticles on few-layers graphene retain about 50 % of its photocatalytic activity after 6 days of continuous irradiation, exhibiting long-term H2 production. It is proposed that this activity and stability arises from the combination of preferential 2.0.0 facet orientation, strong Cu2O–graphene grafting and the role of graphene as cocatalyst.