LAUSR

Abstract In this paper, mesoporous Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres were fabricated via a facile, low-temperature solution route in the presence of poly(2-vinylpyridine)-b-poly(ethylene Oxide) (P2VP-b-PEO) block copolymers. The prepared mesoporous Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres were characterized systematically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. The formation mechanism of mesoporous Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres was discussed. The results show that the molar ratios of Ce3+/Cu2+ and the reaction time have an important influence on the nanostructure of Cu2O–CeO2 composite spheres. The resultant Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres exhibit superior catalytic activities in the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by NaBH4. The activity factor (K = k/m) for the Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres prepared with the molar ratio of Ce3+/Cu2+ of 5/1 is 3006.6 s−1 g−1, which is much higher than reported values. This paper demonstrates a highly controllable approach to the production of mesoporous Cu2O–CeO2 nanospheres, which have potential applications in the areas of catalysis, adsorption, sensors and so on.