A cuprous oxide–reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O–rGO) composite photocatalyst for hydrogen generation: employing rGO as an electron acceptor to enhance the photocatalytic activity and stability of Cu2O

Abstract

Photocorrosion, that causes rapid deactivation of Cu2O photo-catalysts, was addressed by incorporating this oxide in a composite with reduced graphene oxide which acts as an electron acceptor to extract photogenerated electrons from Cu2O. Cu2O-rGO composite engineering also allows enhancing significantly photocatalytic activities of Cu2O for H-2 generation.