Copper and copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are industrially important. In particular, Cu-based nanocatalysts find applicability in electrocatalysis and photocatalysis, profiting from the accessible oxidation states of copper and a band gap in the visible region of the Cu₂O phase. However, in this case, the fast recombination of the charge carriers compromises the final photocatalytic efficiency. The combination of Cu₂O with metals often results in higher and more stable photocatalytic efficiency. Here, the fabrication of noble metal NPs [Au, Ag, Pd, and Pt] and Cu₂O heterostructures (HSs) by a microwave (MW)-assisted synthesis is presented. The selectivity of the MW technique with a fast two-step protocol enabled us to easily prepare these multicomponent nanoparticles in a short time (∼40 min). First, metal NPs (Au, Ag, or Pd) are synthesized through a MW-assisted polyol approach, and these NPs serve as nucleation seeds for cubic Cu₂O wrapping. Other types of heterostructures were found when using smaller Pt NPs instead. Focusing on Au NPs as the core, we analyzed the effect of the gold to copper molar ratio on the shape yield of the nanocubes, reported their optic and plasmonic properties, and demonstrated the reproducibility and scalability of the synthetic routes. Here, we are providing a pioneering example of MW heating as a non-conventional energy source for a general chemical approach to attain a family of complex metal/metal oxide heterostructures.

中文翻译：

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微波合成氧化铜纳米立方体包裹金属

铜和氧化铜纳米粒子 (NP) 在工业上很重要。特别是，Cu 基纳米催化剂在电催化和光催化中具有适用性，这得益于铜的可及氧化态和 Cu ₂ O 相可见区的带隙。然而，在这种情况下，电荷载流子的快速复合会损害最终的光催化效率。Cu ₂ O 与金属的结合通常导致更高且更稳定的光催化效率。在这里，贵金属纳米颗粒 [Au、Ag、Pd 和 Pt] 和 Cu _{2 的制造}介绍了通过微波 (MW) 辅助合成的 O 异质结构 (HS)。具有快速两步协议的 MW 技术的选择性使我们能够在短时间内（~40 分钟）轻松制备这些多组分纳米粒子。首先，金属纳米颗粒（Au、Ag 或 Pd）是通过 MW 辅助多元醇方法合成的，这些纳米颗粒用作立方 Cu _{2 的}成核种子哦包装。当使用较小的 Pt NPs 时发现了其他类型的异质结构。我们以 Au NPs 为核心，分析了金铜摩尔比对纳米立方体形状产率的影响，报告了它们的光学和等离子体特性，并证明了合成路线的可重复性和可扩展性。在这里，我们提供了一个开创性的例子，即 MW 加热作为一种非常规能源，用于通过通用化学方法获得一系列复杂的金属/金属氧化物异质结构。