With the growing desire to incorporate enhanced properties and multiple functions into a single nanostructured system, research on nanocomposites has intensified in recent years. Several material combinations have already been studied, giving rise to a rich library of hybrid nanomaterials. In this Minireview, attention is directed toward Ag−Cu2O nanocomposites, which integrate the strong plasmonic features of metallic Ag and the semiconducting properties of Cu2O. There are numerous ways by which these two materials can be arranged in a nanocomposite, leading to diverse types of hybrid configurations (e. g. core–shell, core–satellite, yolk–shell, Janus). The synthetic protocols that have been used in fabricating these different hybrid structures are amply discussed in this paper. Also described are the remarkable properties that arise from the union of Ag and Cu2O, and how these properties can be utilized in the fields of sensing, catalysis, and antibacterial treatment. Lastly, knowledge gaps and future directions are identified in the concluding section.
In the study of metal–semiconductor nanocomposites, the Au−Cu2O system is of significant interest because it can give rise to a variety of hybrid designs with pronounced activity for catalytic applications. In this work, a facile one‐pot synthetic strategy was developed to prepare Au−Cu2O nanocomposites with a unique core–shell nanoflower configuration, where a cluster of tiny Au nanoparticles constitutes the core, while larger cube‐like Cu2O nanoparticles surround this core in a petal‐like arrangement. Unlike previously published procedures that rely on two‐pot synthesis routes to generate the Au−Cu2O hybrid, the one‐pot synthesis protocol presented in this work is a more straightforward and less laborious approach that does not require a separate pre‐synthesis step. Furthermore, the synthesis can be conveniently performed at ambient conditions using nontoxic reagents. When tested as catalysts, the uniquely designed Au@Cu2O nanoflowers were found to effectively catalyze the borohydride‐mediated degradation of synthetic azo dyes (methyl orange and congo red). The hybrid exhibited superior catalytic activity relative to pristine Cu2O, underscoring the significance of creating a nanocomposite.
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