Preparation of Polyhedral Copper Oxide Nanoparticles by Molten-salt Method and Their Catalytic Performance

Polyhedral copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a molten-salt method without any surfactant or template. Scanning electron microscopy images of the copper oxide samples demonstrated that the as-prepared nanoparticles have a polyhedral structure. The catalytic performances of copper oxide on the degradation of Rhodamine B in the presence of hydrogen peroxide were investigated. The results show that the polyhedral copper oxide nanoparticles exhibited much better catalytic performance in the degradation of Rhodamine B with hydrogen peroxide than commercial nano particles, even with smaller specific surface area. The possible reason can be attributed to the synergistic effect of high crystallinity and the exposed facets formed by polyhedral structure.