Dendrite‐free lithium and sodium metal anodes with deep plating/stripping properties for lithium and sodium batteries

Although lithium(Li)and sodium(Na)metals can be selected as the promising anode materials for next‐generation rechargeable batteries of high energy density,their practical applications are greatly restricted by the uncontrollable dendrite growth.Herein,a platinum(Pt)–copper(Cu)alloycoated Cu foam(Pt–Cu foam)is prepared and then used as the substrate for Li and Na metal anodes.Owing to the ultrarough morphology with a threedimensional porous structure and the quite large surface area as well as lithiophilicity and sodiophilicity,both Li and Na dendrite growths are significantly suppressed on the substrate.Moreover,during Li plating,the lithiated Pt atoms can dissolve into Li phase,leaving a lot of microsized holes on the substrate.During Na plating,although the sodiated Pt atoms cannot dissolve into Na phase,the sodiation of Pt atoms elevates many microsized blocks above the current collector.Either the holes or the voids on the surface of Pt–Cu foam what can be extra place for deposited alkali metal,what effectively relaxes the internal stress caused by the volume exchange during Li and Na plating/stripping.Therefore,the symmetric batteries of Li@Pt–Cu foam and Na@Pt–Cu foam have both achieved long‐term cycling stability even at ultrahigh areal capacity at 20 mAh cm−2.

Super-conductive silver nanoparticles functioned three-dimensional CuxO foams as a high-pseudocapacitive electrode for flexible asymmetric supercapacitors

Copper oxide has aroused great concern in energy storage fields due to its properties of high theoretical capacitance,low cost and mild toxicity.However,its wide application still remains challenges owing to its poor electrical conductivity and unstable cycling life.Binder-free foam electrodes possess abundant porous structures and high specific surface area,which could get good contact with electrolyte.Herein,we demonstrate Ag nanoparticles decorated CuxO nanowires grown spontaneously on copper foam(CF)electrode for asymmetric supercapacitor.The skeleton structure of CF provides large amounts of active sites for the growth of CuxO nanowires.Moreover,Ag nanoparticles further decrease the internal resistance and enhance the electrochemical performance.Ag/CuxO/CF-40 electrode presents a high area specific capacitance of 1192 mF cm^(-2)at 2 mA cm^(-2)and the influence of surface capacitance-dominated process and diffusion-controlled process are discussed in detail.Besides,the energy density of the as-prepared asymmetric supercapacitor(ASC)reaches 46.32 mWh cm^(-2)at a power density of 3.00 mW cm^(-2).A 2V LED is lighted successfully by two ASC in series.This work provides a new strategy to prepare low internal resistance and binder-free flexible Ag/CuxO/CF electrode,which demonstrates a good potential application in flexible supercapacitors or other wearable electronic devices.

Copper foam-derived electrodes as efficient electrocatalysts for conventional and hybrid water electrolysis

Electrochemical water splitting has been demonstrated as a promising technology for the renewable generation of green hydrogen from water.Despite the extensive progress in materials science,one particular challenge for further development towards industrial application lies in the rational design and exploitation of efficient and cost-effective materials,especially oxygen evolution reaction(OER)electrocatalysts at the anode.In addition,attempts to replace the OER with other more oxidizable anode reactions are being evaluated as a groundbreaking strategy for generating hydrogen at lower potentials and reducing overall energy costs while producing valuable chemicals simultaneously.Compared with Fe/Co/Ni-based compounds,Cu-based materials have not received extensive research attention for electrode designs despite their high conductivity and abundant earth reserves.In this review,combining with the advantages of a three-dimensional network structure of metal foams,we summarize recent progress on Cu foam(CF)-derived materials as efficient electrocatalysts towards pure water electrolysis and hybrid water electrolysis.The advantages of CF and design strategies to enhance the electrocatalytic activity and operational durability are presented first.Catalyst design and fabrication strategies are then highlighted and the structure-activity relationship is also discussed.Finally,we propose challenges and perspectives on self-supported electrodes beyond CF-derived materials.

Photoelectrocatalytic reduction of CO_2 to methanol over a photosystem Ⅱ-enhanced Cu foam/Si-nanowire system

A solar-light double illumination photoelectrocatalytic cell（SLDIPEC） was fabricated for autonomous CO2 reduction and O2 evolution with the aid of photosystem II（PS-II, an efficient light-driven water-oxidized enzyme from nature） and utilized in a photoanode solution. The proposed SLPEC system was composed of Cu foam as the photoanode and p-Si nanowires（Si-NW） as the photocathode. Under solar irradiation, it exhibited a super-photoelectrocatalytic performance for CO2 conversion to methanol, with a high evolution rate（41.94 mmol/hr）, owing to fast electron transfer from PS-II to Cu foam.Electrons were subsequently trapped by Si-NW through an external circuit via bias voltage（0.5 V）, and a suitable conduction band potential of Si（-0.6 e V） allowed CO2 to be easily reduced to CH3 OH at the photocathode. The constructed Z-scheme between Cu foam and Si-NW can allow the SLDIPEC system to reduce CO2（8.03 mmol/hr） in the absence of bias voltage. This approach makes full use of the energy band mismatch of the photoanode and photocathode to design a highly efficient device for solving environmental issues and producing clean energy.

Cu/CuO-Graphene Foam with Laccase-like Activity for Identification of Phenolic Compounds and Detection of Epinephrine

Although great progress has been made in the advancement of nanozymes,most of the studies focus on mimicking peroxidase,oxidase,and catalase,while relatively few studies are used to mimic laccase.However,the use of nanomaterials to mimic laccase activity will have great potential in environmental and industrial catalysis.Herein,Cu/CuO-graphene foam with laccase-like activity was designed for the identification of phenolic compounds and the detection of epinephrine.In a typical experiment,the formation mechanism of Cu/CuO-graphene foam was investigated during the pyrolysis process by thermogravimetric-mass spectrometry.As a laccase mimic,Cu/CuO-graphene foam exhibited excellent catalytic activity with a Michaelis-Menten constant and a maximum initial velocity of 0.17 mmol/L and 0.012µmol·L^(−1)·s^(−1),respectively.Based on this principle,Cu/CuO-graphene foam nanozyme could differentially catalyze phenolic compounds and 4-aminoantipyrine for simultaneous identification of phenolic compounds.Furthermore,a colorimetric sensing platform was fabricated for the quantitative determination of epinephrine,showing linear responses to epinephrine in the range of 3µg/mL to 20µg/mL with the detection limit of 0.2µg/mL.The proposed Cu/CuO-graphene foam nanozyme could be applied for the identification of phenolic compounds and the detection of epinephrine,showing great potential applications for environmental monitoring,biomedical sensing,and food detection fields.