LAUSR

Abstract The Cu2Cl(OH)3 uniform nanoflowers (f-Cu) are synthesized by the H2O2-assisted hydrothermal method, and the sample is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-DRS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The results show that with the increase of VH2O2/VH2O, the particles have assembled into nanoflowers. Moreover, the Cu2Cl(OH)3 nanoflowers are about 4 μm large, which consist of 5–1000 nm particles. Furthermore, Cu2Cl(OH)3 has monoclinic structure, and the lattice fringe spacing of 0.549 nm matches well with the {1 0 0} planes of Cu2Cl(OH)3, which reveal the single crystalline nature of f-Cu. Moreover, its photo-Fenton reaction degradation performance is evaluated by the decomposition of rhodamine B (RhB) as probing molecule to. It is found that f-Cu may promote the decomposition of H2O2, thus improving photo-Fenton reaction activity; and a low pH value promotes the photo-Fenton reaction. Compared with classic Fenton reaction, the photo-Fenton reaction is efficient at a wider pH range, which is promising for practical application.