Low cost, surfactant-less, one pot synthesis of Cu2O nano-octahedra at room temperature

Cu2O octahedra were successfully synthesized via a novel wet-chemical method using d-glucose and hydrazine as reducing agent at room temperature without the presence of any other surfactant. Presence of d-glucose was important for the stabilization of the evolved copper octahedra and also for facilitating the reduction of the Cu(II) ions. The existence of glucose moieties on the surface as capping agent was confirmed by the FT-IR spectra while there was presence of excess oxygen atoms on the surface leading to the formation of a thin CuO layer at the octahedra surface, as confirmed by the XPS study, probably promoted by the capping glucose. Effect of NaOH concentration on the reaction and the formation of octahedra was also studied. The formation mechanism of obtained Cu2O octahedra has been discussed. These octahedra were then studied for their photocatalytic properties in degradation of organic dyes, rhodamine B and methyl orange.