Abstract. This paper describes the synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles with different percentages of CuO and Cu 2 O phases. It was achieved by the control of the percentage of oxygen in the gas mixture (N 2 + O 2 ) in a plasma-chemical process of evaporation-condensation by means of low-pressure arc discharge. In all the experiments, the pressure in the plasma-chemical reactor remained constant at 60 Pa. By means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) it was found that the average particle size was 6 nm, and Cu 2 O phase content decreases with increasing oxygen content in the gas mixture. High photocatalytic properties of Cu 2 O powder were shown by the example of the reaction of the methyl orange dye decomposition in water solution. The problems, associated with the performance of this method and the formation of crystalline phases, are discussed.