A nitrogen doped carbon matrix supported Cu₂O composite material (Cu/Cu₂O@NC) was fabricated successfully with a coordination polymer as precursor through calcination. In this composite material, Cu₂O particles with a size of about 6–10 nm were dispersed evenly in the nitrogen doped carbon matrix. After calcination, some coordinated nitrogen atoms were doped in the lattice of Cu₂O and replace oxygen atoms, thus generating a large number of oxygen vacancies. In Cu/Cu₂O@NC, the existence of oxygen vacancies has been confirmed by electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Under visible light irradiation, Cu/Cu₂O@NC exhibits excellent H₂ production with the rate of 379.6 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. Its photocatalytic activity affects organic dyes, such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). In addition to photocatalysis, Cu/Cu₂O@NC also exhibits striking catalytic activity in reductive conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol with in presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄). The conversion efficiency reaches almost 100% in 250 s with the quantity of Cu/Cu₂O@NC as low as 5 mg. The outstanding H₂ production and organic pollutants removal are attributed to the oxygen vacancy. We expect that Cu/Cu₂O@NC will find its way as a new resource for hydrogen energy as well as a promising material in water purification.

中文翻译：

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以氮掺杂碳为基质的 富氧空位Cu ₂ O基复合材料，用于光催化H _2的生产和有机污染物的去除†

以配位聚合物为前驱体，成功制备了氮掺杂的碳基负载Cu ₂ O复合材料（Cu / Cu ₂ O @ NC）。在这种复合材料中，尺寸约为6-10 nm的Cu ₂ O颗粒均匀地分散在氮掺杂的碳基质中。煅烧后，一些配位的氮原子被掺杂在Cu ₂ O的晶格中并取代了氧原子，从而产生了大量的氧空位。在Cu / Cu ₂ O @ NC中，通过电子自旋共振（ESR）和X射线光电子能谱（XPS）证实了氧空位的存在。在可见光照射下，Cu / Cu₂ O @ NC表现出优异的H ₂生成，速率为379.6μmolh ^-1 g ^-1。它的光催化活性会影响有机染料，如若丹明B（RhB）和甲基橙（MO）。除光催化作用外，在硼氢化钠（NaBH ₄）存在下，Cu / Cu ₂ O @ NC还具有惊人的催化活性，可将4-硝基苯酚还原转化为4-氨基苯酚。Cu / Cu ₂ O @ NC的量低至5 mg，在250 s内转换效率几乎达到100％。H ₂的出色产生和有机污染物的去除归因于氧的空位。我们期望Cu / Cu ₂ O @ NC将找到一种新的氢能资源，同时也是一种有前景的水净化材料。