Morphology-controlled synthesis of cuprous oxide nanoparticles by plasma electrochemistry and its photocatalytic activity

A plasma-NaCl aqueous solution system has been used to synthesize cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanoparticles. In this plasma electrochemical system, the argon plasma located above the liquid surface is used as cathode, while a copper plate partially immersed into the aqueous solution as the counter electrode. At the anode zone, the anodic dissolution of Cu plate releases Cu2+ into aqueous solution and then transports and reacts in the plasma-liquid interactions zone. The results show that the morphology of the synthesized Cu2O nanoparticles ranges from irregular shape to spherical structure by altering the concentration of surfactant of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. In addition, the obtained Cu2O nanoparticles with spherical structure have been confirmed to have enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance of methyl orange degradation.