Cu2O decorated carbon-incorporated TiO2 microspheres with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity

Carbon-incorporated TiO2 microspheres (CTMs), produced by a flame assisted hydrolysis method, were successfully decorated with Cu2O nanoparticles via a chemical bath deposition process. A red shift of absorption edge and enhanced visible light absorption were observed for the resulted Cu2O/CTMs composites compared with bare TiO2 and CTMs. Their effective visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity and the effect of deposition amount of Cu2O on the photocatalytic properties were determined by the degradation of methylene blue. The highest degradation rate was achieved for Cu2O/CTMs composite (29.2%) compared to CTMs (18.5%) and bare TiO2 (7.3%) under visible light illumination for 80 min. The improved photoactivity can be ascribed to the integrative synergistic effect of carbon and Cu2O on TiO2. This work develops a rapid and facile approach for the fabrication of Cu2O decorated carbon-incorporated TiO2 microspheres composites and demonstrates it is an efficient route to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.