Preparation of octahedral Cu2O nanoparticles by a green route

Abstract The fabrication of octahedral Cu 2 O was described by a green and simple chemical precipitation method in this study. All samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffractometer(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer (UV–vis), respectively. The results show that products are composed of octahedral particles with an edge length of 200–300 nm, and narrow band gaps (2.26 eV), which is blue shifted with respect to the bulk Cu 2 O value (2.17 eV). Well-dispersed Cu 2 O with effectively absorbing visible light can be obtained through the route which is surfactant-free, cost effective, and suitable for large scale production.