Direct synthesis of sodium doped Cu2O/GO nanocomposites for catalytic hydrogen production from NaBH4

In this work, Cu2O/GO doped Na nanocomposites were prepared via sol-gel auto-combustion procedure. The material structure was analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The crystal structure of the Cu2O/GO, Cu1.7Na0.3O/GO and Cu1.4Na0.6O/GO
nanocomposites was found to be cubic as evidenced by XRD patterns. The complexing of copper oxide and GO was confirmed by FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. ESEM micrographs
showed that Cu2O nanoparticles are integrated into GO nanosheets. The surface area of these nanocomposites decreased from 122 to 59 m2 /g. The optical energy gap was found to decrease
from 2.14 to 1.72 eV with increasing sodium content. The addition of sodium to Cu2O/GO nanocomposites accelerated the hydrogen evolution from NaBH4. The maximum rate of
hydrogen (10981 mL/g.min) was achieved for the Cu1.4Na0.6O/GO nanocomposite sample. These findings confirm that the prepared nanocomposites could be used as efficient hydrogen
catalysts.