Increasing effectiveness of photogenerated carriers by in situ anchoring of Cu₂O nanoparticles on a nitrogen-doped porous carbon yolk-shell cuboctahedral framework

An efficient photocatalyst should maximize utilization of sunlight and minimize recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Thus, searching for a simple approach to develop low-cost efficient photocatalysts to improve the utilization ratio of sunlight and boost the photogenerated charge carrier lifetime is very important and challenging. In this article, anchoring Cu₂O nanoparticles (NPs) in situ on a nitrogen-doped porous carbon yolk-shell cuboctahedral (CNPC) framework has been successfully carried out by direct derivation from a benzimidazole-modified Cu-btc MOF (btc = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate, MOF = metal-organic framework) template. The prepared CNPC showed high photoredox catalysis in forming C-C bond reactions, resulting from the prolonged lifetime of photogenerated electrons and holes, multiple reflections of light by the yolk-shell structure, and improved stability and dispersibility of Cu₂O NPs. Our study provided a simple way to designing low-cost, efficient heterostuctured photocatalysts.