Ionic liquid-assisted fabrication of copper hydroxyphosphate nanocrystals with exposed {100} facets for enhanced photocatalytic activity

Self-Assembled 3D Hierarchical Copper Hydroxyphosphate Modified by the Oxidation of Copper Foil as a Recyclable, Wide Wavelength Photocatalyst

In this work, three-dimensional flower-like and petal-like copper hydroxyphosphate Cu₅(OH)₄(PO₄)₂ (CHP) based on the self-assembly of numerous nanosheets has been successfully fabricated on a copper foil by a mild one-pot wet-chemical method without ligand assistance. This research contributes to the development of the method to change the morphology of the CHP active material by varying the degree of substrate oxidation. The two different CHP architectures were used to photocatalytically degrade rhodamine 6G (Rh 6G) under solar light, which can absorb wide-range light wavelength from the UV to the near-infrared region. They all exhibit high photocatalytic activity and good durability, which are potential candidates for high performance and recyclable wide wavelength photocatalysis.

Fabricating Metallic Circuit Patterns on Polymer Substrates through Laser and Selective Metallization

Nowadays, with the rapid development of portable electronics, wearable electronics, LEDs, microelectronics, and bioelectronics, the fabrication of metallic circuits onto polymer substrates with strong adhesion property is an ever-increasing challenge. In this study, the high-resolution and well-defined metallic circuits were successfully prepared on the polymer surface via laser direct structuring (LDS) based on copper hydroxyl phosphate [Cu₂(OH)PO₄], and the key mechanism of the selective metallization was systematically investigated. XPS confirmed that Cu⁰ (elemental copper) was formed through photochemical reduction reaction of Cu₂(OH)PO₄, after 1064 nm NIR pulsed laser irradiation. During the electroless plating, because it is the important active catalytic center, this newly formed Cu⁰ was the key factor to achieve the successful selective metallization. SEM revealed that after the electroless plating, the copper layer actually physically anchored into the polymer substrate, giving an excellent mechanical adhesion property of the obtained metallic patterns. In addition, the micro-Raman surface imaging approved the generation of the amorphous carbon on the polymer composites' surface after NIR laser irradiation, and the chemical reaction region caused by the pulsed laser spot was found at approximately 40 μm. This environmentally friendly and effective strategy for fabricating circuit patterns on the polymer surface has a possible application in the printed circuit plate (PCB) industry.

Cu2(OH)PO4/g-C3N4 composite as an efficient visible light-activated photo-Fenton photocatalyst

The synergistic effect of Cu₂(OH)PO₄/H₂O₂ and g-C₃N₄ highly boosts the catalytic activity towards photo-Fenton photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B.