Thermosensitive Cu2O-PNIPAM core-shell nanoreactors with tunable photocatalytic activity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel Cu2O@PNIPAM core-shell nanoreactor with enhanced and tunable photocatalytic activity, protecting Cu2O from oxidation and allowing temperature-controlled performance under visible light.

Contribution

The study presents a new fabrication method for thermosensitive Cu2O@PNIPAM nanoreactors that improve stability and enable tunable photocatalytic activity, advancing nanoreactor design.

Findings

Enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to pure Cu2O nanocubes

Effective protection of Cu2O from oxidation by PNIPAM shell

Photocatalytic activity can be tuned by temperature

Abstract

We report a facile and novel method for the fabrication of Cu2O@PNIPAM core-shell nanoreactors using Cu2O nanocubes as the core. The PNIPAM shell not only effectively protects the Cu2O nanocubes from oxidation, but also improves the colloidal stability of the system. The Cu2O@PNIPAM core-shell microgels can work efficiently as photocatalyst for the decomposition of methyl orange under visible light. A significant enhancement in the catalytic activity has been observed for the core-shell microgels compared with the pure Cu2O nanocubes. Most importantly, the photocatalytic activity of the Cu2O nanocubes can be further tuned by the thermosensitive PNIPAM shell, as rationalized by our recent theory.