Photo-Thermal Conversion of Copper Sulfide Hollow Structures with Different Shape and Thickness

In the current paper, we report the synthesis of spherical and cubic copper sulfide hollow structures, as well as the influence of shape and thickness on the photo-thermal conversion of the as-synthesized products. Copper sulfide hollow structures of different thickness were synthesized base on a sacrificial template strategy using spherical and cubic Cu2O precursors as templates. Optical absorption of the as-synthesized products was investigated with UV-Vis spectrometer. Photo-thermal conversion property was studied with a lab-made evaluation system equipped with an AUT-FSL semiconductor/solid state laser. The results indicate that the as-prepared products exhibited significant absorption in visible light regions. Under the irradiation of laser beam with a wavelength at 635 nm and a power of 0.015 W, the temperature elevations of the aqueous suspensions containing 0.24% mass fraction of spherical and cubic copper sulfide hollow structures were measured to be 5 °C and 6 °C within 60 seconds, respectively. On the contrast, water showed little temperature elevation under the same conditions.