Spontaneous formation of Cu2O-g-C3N4 core-shell nanowires for photocurrent and humidity responses.

The assembly of low dimensional g-C3N4 structures in a geometrically well-defined fashion and the complexation of g-C3N4 with other materials are the main approaches to construct fancy structures for special functions. While high temperature was often indispensable for the preparation process, the realization of room temperature assembly of the low dimensional g-C3N4 and the preparation of g-C3N4-based semiconductor composites will provide many additional advantages for new functional materials and applications. Herein, the unique cuprous oxide (Cu2O)-graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C3N4) core-shell nanowires with highly hierarchical sharp edges on the surface have been prepared by a spontaneous reduction and assembly approach based on oxygen-functional g-C3N4 (O-functional g-C3N4) at room temperature. Combined with the hybrid effect of Cu2O with g-C3N4, such hierarchical Cu2O-g-C3N4 core-shell nanowires possess sensitivity to humidity and photocurrent response.