3D Carbon Foam Research Articles

A Self-foaming Strategy to Construct Small Mo2C Nanoparticles Decorated 3D Carbon Foams as Superior Electromagnetic Wave Absorbing Materials with Strong Corrosion Resistance.

3D macroporous carbon-based foams are always considered as promising candidates for high-performance electromagnetic (EM) wave absorbing materials due to the collaborative EM contribution and salutary structure effect. However, the uneven distribution of heterogeneous EM components and the cumbersome preparation process have become key issues to hinder their performance improvement and practical popularity. Herein, the fabrication of 3D carbon foam decorated with small and highly dispersed Mo2C nanoparticles is realized by an innovative self-foaming strategy. The foaming mechanism can be attributed to the decomposition of nitrate during the softening process of organic polymers. The good dispersion of Mo2C nanoparticles boosts interfacial polarization significantly. After regulating the content of Mo2C nanoparticles, the optimal Mo2C/CF-x exhibits good EM absorption performance, whose minimum reflection loss intensity value can reach up to -72.2dB, and effective absorption bandwidth covers 6.7GHz with a thickness of 2.30mm. Very importantly, the resultant Mo2C/CF-x exhibits hydrophobicity and strong acidic anticorrosion, and a long-time treatment in HCl solution (6.0molL-1) produces negligible impacts on their EM functions. It is believed that this extraordinary feature may render Mo2C/C foams as qualified and durable EM wave absorbing materials (EWAMs) under rigorous conditions.

3D Carbonaceous Foams Derived from High Internal Phase Emulsion for Energy Applications

AbstractIn recent years, there has been a notable increase in interest regarding monolithic porous polymers known as poly(High Internal Phase Emulsion) – poly(HIPE) – which are synthesized from high internal phase emulsions. This is due to their exceptional capability to produce three‐dimensional structures with substantial porosity. Nevertheless, the exploitation of this family of materials in energy‐driven applications is still limited, mainly because of their lack of conductivity. The exploration of conducting materials with 3D polymeric frameworks remains a promising avenue for research. In this context, pyrolysed poly(HIPE) seems to be the simplest and most cost‐effective strategy to directly transform a 3D polymer into a 3D conductive carbon foam, that is, carboHIPE. Currently, CarboHIPE and its derivatives are becoming alternatives to commercially available activated carbon/graphite or expensive graphene and carbon nanotube‐based materials. Accordingly, gaining insight into the formation of these materials is crucial to accelerate their use in commercial energy devices. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of various synthesis pathways utilized to modify the characteristics of CarboHIPEs, as well as the recent developments in their application as active components in energy‐based systems.

Self-supporting hierarchical Co3O4-nanowires@NiO-nanosheets core-shell nanostructure on carbon foam to form efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Designing cost-effective and robust bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is highly desired in hydrogen production from overall water splitting, but still suffers great challenges due to the sluggish catalytic OER/HER kinetics. In this paper, a surface/defect engineering strategy is developed to synthesize three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam (CF)-supported unique hierarchical Co3O4 nanowires@NiO nanosheets core–shell nanostructured catalyst (NiO@Co3O4/CF) with rich oxygen-vacancies as a novel bifunctional catalyst for alkaline water splitting electrolysis. Benefited from the synergy of the 3D hierarchical core–shell structure and rich oxygen vacancies, the as-obtained NiO@Co3O4/CF shows both excellent OER (η200 = 325 mV, η500 = 374 mV) and HER (η10 = 104 mV) activities with low Tafel slopes (64.26 mV dec−1 for OER and 109.14 mV dec−1 for HER, respectively) and outstanding stability. A simple overall water splitting electrolysis cell assembled by this bifunctional NiO@Co3O4/CF as both OER and HER catalysts requires only a cell voltage of 1.53 V to obtain the current density of 10 mA cm−2 and displays a long-term stability. This work has successfully developed an approach for rational design and novel synthesis of metal oxide hybrids as bifunctional electrocatalysts with high activity and stability for overall water splitting.

A "Win-Win" Strategy to Modify Co/C Foam with Carbon Microspheres for Enhanced Dielectric Loss and Microwave Absorption Characteristics.

3D carbon foams have demonstrated their superiority in the field of microwave absorption recently, but the preparation processes of traditional graphene foams are complicated, while some novel carbon foams usually suffer from inadequate dielectric property. Herein, a simple "win-win" strategy is demonstrated to synchronously realize the construction of 3D Co/C foam and its surface decoration with carbon microspheres. Therein, the host Co/C foams and guest carbon microspheres interact with each other, resulting in the improvement of the dispersity of carbon microspheres and Co nanoparticles. The bilaterally synergistic effect can effectively enhance the interfacial polarization and conductive loss of these obtained samples. Electromagnetic analysis reveals that the optimized sample with moderate carbon microsphere content (about 33.5 wt%) displays a widened maximum effective absorption bandwidth of 5.2GHz and a consolidated reflection loss intensity of -67.6dB. Besides, the microwave absorption enhancement mechanisms are investigated and discussed in detail. It is believed that this work provides valuable ideas for the development of 3D-foam-based microwave absorbing materials for practical applications.

Hierarchically Structured CoNiP/CoNi Nanoparticle/Graphene/Carbon Foams as Effective Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for HER and OER

The rational assembly of multiple active components has been regarded as a feasible approach to constructing effective electrocatalysts for overall water splitting. In this work, we have first developed effective bifunctional electrocatalysts, namely, hierarchically structured CoNiP/CoNi nanoparticle/graphene/carbon foams. Reduced graphene oxide nanosheets like papers encapsulate the backbones of carbonized melamine foams; meanwhile, numerous hybrid CoNiP/CoNi nanoparticles are dispersedly attached to the carbon matrix. These special structures endow electrocatalysts with excellent HER and OER performances. Their overpotentials of 224 mV and 341 mV can carry out the current density of 10 mA/cm2, and the corresponding Tafel slopes are 85 mV/dec and 58 mV/dec. Moreover, this electrocatalyst has good durability in the long term electrolysis of HER and OER. In the end, the role of each component in the HER and OER processes has been revealed. Well-dispersed nanoparticles function as the main roles owing to their rich active sites and desirable electronic structures. Graphene nanosheets not only provide good substrates for nanoparticles but also hinder the shrinkage of carbonized melamine foams. Besides, 3D carbon foams inserted with plentiful graphene nanosheets could construct interconnected conductive networks and hierarchical porous structures, promoting electron-transfer kinetics and enhancing mass-transfer efficiency. Therefore, partially doping P atoms can largely enhance the electrocatalytic performances of bimetal CoNi, and the conjugation of 2D graphene nanosheets and 3D carbon foams would be one promising candidate for electrocatalytic support. This work may deliver valuable guidance for exploiting high-performance electrocatalysts.

Fe3C nanoparticles decorated 3D nitrogen-doped carbon foam as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for nitrate reduction to ammonia

Electrochemical nitrate (NO3−) reduction is considered as a promising strategy to remove NO3−-containing pollution with simultaneous production of ammonia (NH3) under ambient conditions. However, this reaction involves multi-electron transfer steps, which requires active electrocatalysts for high NH3 selectivity. Herein, we demonstrate the development of Fe3C nanoparticles decorated 3D nitrogen-doped carbon foam (Fe3C NPs@NCF) as an efficient electrocatalyst to reduce NO3− to NH3. Such Fe3C NPs@NCF attains a high Faradaic efficiency (96.9%) and a large NH3 yield (8391.8 μg h−1 cm−2). More importantly, Fe3C NPs@NCF also delivers high stability.

Constructing mixed-dimensional lightweight flexible carbon foam/carbon nanotubes-based heterostructures: An effective strategy to achieve tunable and boosted microwave absorption

Taking full advantage of interface engineering to strengthen interface polarization is an effective strategy to improve microwave absorption. Therefore, constructing the mixed-dimensional heterostructures and/or three-dimensional (3D) interconnected network structures should be attractive pathways to create the abundant interfaces for enhanced interfacial effect. Herein, mixed-dimensional framework structure carbon foam (CF)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)@Fe3C@Fe3O4 samples consisting of 3D CF, one-dimensional (1D) CNTs and zero-dimensional (0D) Fe3C@Fe3O4 nanoparticles were elaborately designed and produced through a simple catalytic chemical vapor deposition process. The as-prepared CF/CNTs@Fe3C@Fe3O4 heterostructures with the different contents of CNTs could be selectively produced by regulating the pyrolysis time. Owing to the unique structure and excellent synergistic effects, the obtained mixed-dimensional CF/CNTs@Fe3C@Fe3O4 samples presented the excellent comprehensive electromagnetic wave absorption performances (EMWAPs) including strong absorption capabilities, broad absorption bandwidths, thin matching thicknesses and low densities. Furthermore, the obtained results demonstrated that the enhanced content of CNTs greatly boosted their conduction and polarization loss abilities, which resulted in the enhanced comprehensive EMWAPs. Therefore, our findings not only offered a simple strategy to produce the mixed-dimensional framework structure magnetic CF/CNTs-based heterostructures as excellent lightweight high-efficiency microwave absorbers, but also provided an effective pathway to make the best of interface engineering for enhancing interface polarization.

Ultra-broadband microwave absorption of honeycomb-like three-dimensional carbon foams embedded with zero-dimensional magnetic quantum dots

The magnetic response behavior of microwave absorbing materials (MAMs) is beneficial to the expansion of the effective bandwidth in the high-frequency electromagnetic fields. However, the high density of magnetic components does not match with the lightweight requirement of MAMs. In response to this contradiction, the metal-organic framework (MOF) ZIF-67 material and melamine foam were used in the present work as the magnetic component and self-sacrificial template, respectively. A three-dimensional honeycomb carbon foam with zero-dimensional magnetic Co quantum dots (Co-QDs/CF) was prepared by a simple two-step method. The unique honeycomb structure significantly improved impedance matching and carrier mobility, providing more scattering paths for the electromagnetic wave conduction while reducing the overall density. In turn, the uniformly embedded magnetic Co-QDs endowed the 3D carbon foam with excellent high-frequency magnetic response while ensuring light weight. The ultra-small size (<10 nm) enhanced the exchange coupling between magnetic particles while suppressing the eddy current effect, and the magnetic loss capability was greatly improved. Interestingly, Co-QDs acting as numerous micro-resistors formed a large three-dimensional conductive network with the carbon skeleton, which demonstrated outstanding electron transport ability, so that the conductance loss was significantly enhanced. Surprisingly, the effective absorption bandwidth of Co-QDs/CF in the 2–18 GHz band was as high as 8.74 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.5 mm, while the corresponding filling rate was only 20 wt%. Thus, the proposed ingenious strategy to construct three-dimensional conductive networks using ultra-small magnetic quantum dots opens up new prospects for the development of lightweight broadband MAMs.

Highly loaded gold (Au) nanoseeds with uniform distribution on 3D carbon foam for long-cycle lithium-metal batteries

Highly loaded Au nanoseeds (∼ 65 wt%) without aggregation by introducing highly defective substrate and carbothermalshock method showed high stability inhibiting Li dendrite growh in Li-metal batteries.

Sn Nanoparticles Anchored on Carbon Foam Prepared by a Facile Electrodeposition for Lithium Storage

As an anode material of lithium‐ion batteries (LIB), Sn has great application potential due to its high theoretical specific capacity. However, the Li–Sn alloying reaction causes serious volume expansion and destroys the electrode structure, resulting in a rapid capacity decay. Herein, a simple preparation method for the Sn–carbon composites (Sn/CF) is designed by electrodepositing Sn nanoparticles on 3D carbon foam (CF) derived from the carbonization of melamine. Sn/CF‐3h exhibits excellent electrochemical properties. At 1 A g−1, the specific capacity of Sn/CF‐3h remains 166.6 mAh g−1 with a high capacity retention of 85.4% even over 2000 cycles. The designed structure of the Sn/CF electrode contributes to its excellent performance: providing a 3D conductive network, accommodating volume changes to prevent Sn nanoparticles from losing electrical contact, and promoting contact with electrolyte to accelerate lithium ion transmission.

Three-Dimensional Carbon Foam Based Asymmetric Assembly of Metal Oxides Electrodes for High-Performance Solid-State Micro-Supercapacitor

Micro-supercapacitors hold great attention as one of the promising energy storage devices satisfying the increasing quest for miniaturized and portable devices. Despite having impressive power density, superior cyclic lifetime, and high charge-discharge rates, micro-supercapacitors still suffer from low energy density, limits their practical application. The energy density (E=1/2CV2) can be increased either by increasing specific capacitance (C) or voltage range (V). Asymmetric micro-supercapacitors have attracted great attention by using two different electrode materials to expand the voltage window and thus increase the energy density. Currently, versatile fabrication technologies such as inkjet printing, lithography, laser scribing, etc., are used to directly or indirectly pattern the electrode material; these techniques still suffer from scalable production and cost inefficiency. Here, we demonstrate the scalable production of a three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam (CF) based asymmetric micro-supercapacitor by spray printing technique on an array of interdigital electrodes. The solid-state asymmetric micro-supercapacitor comprised of CF-MnO positive electrode and CF-Fe2O3 negative electrode achieves a high areal capacitance of 18.4 mF/cm2 (2326.8 mF/cm3) at 5 mV/s and a wider potential window of 1.4 V. Consequently, a superior energy density of 5 µWh/cm2 is obtained, and high cyclic stability is confirmed with retention of the initial capacitance by 86.1% after 10000 electrochemical cycles. The optimized decoration of pseudocapacitive metal oxides in the 3D carbon network helps in high electrochemical utilization of materials where the 3D interconnected network of carbon provides overall electrical conductivity and structural integrity. The research provides a simple and scalable spray printing method to fabricate an asymmetric micro-supercapacitor using a custom-made mask that can be integrated on a large scale.

In-situ calcination of NiO nanowalls@carbon foam with hybrid 2D/3D framework to reinforce 1-octadecanol phase change materials

Well-aligned NiO nanowalls on a 3D melamine-derived carbon foam (CF) skeleton were synthesized and further employed in phase change materials (PCMs). The effect of NiO nanowalls and CF on the thermal properties of matrix 1-octadecanol (OD) PCMs was studied in detail. CF with 3D interconnected network and excellent absorption capacities was prepared by simple carbonization from commercial melamine foam (MF). NiO@CF was designed by calcining the precursor of Ni(OH)2 in-situ depositing on CF skeleton. On account of the large specific surface area of NiO nanowalls and the connected networks of CF, NiO@CF/OD composite PCMs possess high thermal storage capacity and excellent heat transfer efficiency. The thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of NiO@CF/OD composite PCMs are 1.12 W/m·K and 2.80 J/g·K, 4.67 and 2.55 times of pure OD, respectively. The addition of NiO nanowalls and CF had a negligible influence on the phase change temperature of OD. Furthermore, the photothermal energy conversion efficiency of NiO@CF/OD composite PCMs is up to 77.6%. This research opens an avenue to superior multifunctional PCMs possessing high thermal conductivity and great specific heat capacity for low-cost and highly efficient thermal storage technologies.

Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated flexible carbon foam for efficient electromagnetic interference shielding

Magnetic nanomaterials have been shown to be effective additives to conductive materials for enhancing electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI) shielding performance, but the comprehensive mechanism remains unknown. Herein, a 3D flexible carbon foam composite decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles was designed and constructed. The composite exhibited good flexibility and mechanical strength (approximately 45 KPa). Due to the synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic losses, the composite delivered a shielding effectiveness (SE) of 21 dB in the X-band and a corresponding specific SE (SSE) value of 210 dB cm2/g. The transmission coefficient (T) was discovered to be as low as 0.008, indicating that the composite can successfully shield EM, while the reflection coefficient (R) was found to be higher than the absorption coefficient (A). Moreover, the complicated permittivity, permeability, and magnetism magnetization of the composite were discussed in order to better understand the origin of the composite's shielding behavior.

Oxygen-rich graphene vertically grown on 3D N-Doped carbon foam for high-performance sodium ion batteries

Graphene is emerged as one of the promising anodes for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) in terms of high electronic conductivity and specific surface area, however, the low initial Coulombic efficiency and inferior cycle capability severely limit its application. Herein, oxygen-rich graphene vertically grown on 3D N-doped carbon foam (VGOG/3DNCF) is prepared via a super simple and scalable method, which just involves hydrogen-bond adsorption of graphene oxide with melamine sponge and subsequent two-step calcination. When VGOG/3DNCF is evaluated as anode for SIBs, the ultra-high oxygen content (16.4 at%) dominated by CO groups renders VGOG/3DNCF much more active sites for Na+ storage, and the vertical growth structure of graphene on 3D carbon foam can effectively reduce the restacking of graphene and promote the rapid migration of Na+. As a result, VGOG/3DNCF anode delivers extraordinary Na+ storage ability with outstanding reversible capability (508.6 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), superior rate performance (113.3 mAh g−1 at 5.0 A g−1) as well as remarkable cycle stability (329.3 mAh g−1 over 1000 cycles at 1.0 A g−1). The facile method together with the impressive electrochemical performances provide a new way to facilitate the application of graphene in SIBs.

3D x-ray microtomography investigations on the bimodal porosity and high sulfur impregnation in 3D carbon foam for Li–S battery application

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, regarded as one of the most promising alternatives to current state-of-the-art rechargeable Li-ion battery technologies, have received tremendous attention as potential candidates for next-generation portable electronics and the rapidly advancing electric vehicle market. However, substantial capacity decay, miserable cycle life, and meagre stability remain critical challenges. More specifically, shuttling of polysulfide (Li2S x (3 < x ⩽ 8)) species severely hinders the cycle performance resulting in capacity fade and cycling instability. In the present work, a highly conducting three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanofiber (CNF) foam has been synthesized using the lyophilization method followed by thermal pyrolysis. The highly porous foam materials have a bimodal porosity distribution in the nano and micro regime and were successfully investigated to serve as a potential host for sulfur species intended for Li–S battery application. 3D x-ray microtomography was employed to estimate the nature of sulfur impregnation and distribution in the 3D porous networks. On utilizing the final product as cathode material, sulfur impregnated carbonized CNF foam and modified the separator with functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes delivered a specific capacity of ∼845 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1.

Tailoring 3d Carbon Foam Using Cpm-463 Derived Fe3o4 for Efficient Electromagnetic Shielding

Tailoring 3d Carbon Foam Using Cpm-463 Derived Fe3o4 for Efficient Electromagnetic Shielding

Self-supported construction of three-dimensional NiCo2O4 hierarchical nanoneedles for high-performance microwave absorption

Grafting one-dimensional (1D) structure onto three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam is a practical and novel protocol to improve its microwave attenuation capability. Herein, a unique microwave absorber with NiCo2O4 nanoneedle grew on carbon foam (NCOCF) has been built via a combined approach of carbonization and hydrothermal treatment. The obtained NCOCF exhibit good impedance matching and excellent attenuation capability, which means that the microwave energy can be dissipated through conductive loss, interfacial polarization and multiple-scattering. These advantages result in the effective transformation of microwave energy to heat, thus yielding a remarkable microwave adsorption (with a thickness of 2.8 mm, the maximum reflection loss (RLmax) is −63.6 dB, and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) is as wide as 4.72 GHz with a thickness of 1.3 mm). The study would offer a strategy for development of the high-performance microwave absorber.

Ultrafine Ni5P4 nanoparticles embedded in 3D porous carbon foams for high-performance lithium-ion and potassium-ion batteries

Ultrafine Ni5P4 nanoparticles embedded in 3D porous carbon foams are designed and synthesized by the assistance of NaCl templating and followed a phosphorization treatment. The three-dimensional porous structure of the carbon foams possesses large active specific surface areas and sufficient pores, that help to buffer the volume expansions whilst offering conductive pathways to accelerate ion transportations. The ultrafine Ni5P4 nanoparticles are beneficial for the exposure more accessible active sites to enhance the capacity utilization and shorten ion transport distances. The Ni5P4/C composite presents high rate capability with a specific capacity of 192.5 mAh g-1 at 8000 mA g-1 and high cycle stability (363.7 mAh g-1 at 2000 mA g-1 after 3000 cycles) for lithium-ion batteries. Further, the composite is also examined as the anode for potassium ion batteries for the first time and it delivers a high specific capacity of 128.1 mAh g-1 after 5000 cycles at the current density of 2000 mA g-1. XRD measurements suggests a solid-solution reaction mechanism for K-ion storage in Ni5P4.

In-situ growth of molecularly imprinted metal–organic frameworks on 3D carbon foam as an efficient adsorbent for selective removal of antibiotics

In recent years, Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of adsorption owing to their advantages such as large specific surface area and rich active sites, but the adsorption performance of MOFs is not ideal for the removal of macromolecular organics. In this study, a novel composite material for the efficient and selective removal of norfloxacin (NOR) from wastewater has been successfully prepared via combining molecular imprinting (MI) technology and in-situ growth strategy, in which evenly dispersed MOFs particles are perfectly anchored to three-dimensional porous carbon foam (CF). Owing to more active sites exposed by three-dimensional imprinted holes and the excellent transport properties of CF, the as-prepared MI-MOF/CF exhibits a maximum capacity of 456 mg/g for NOR, which is far superior to that of the pristine MOF. Moreover, the adsorption rate is significantly increased, and the adsorption equilibrium could be reached within 60 min. Interestingly, the selective pharmaceuticals adsorption performance of MI-MOF/CF depends not only on the pore size, but also on the specific recognition ability of the active sites where modified with carboxyl compounds. This work effectively solves the bottleneck encountered by MOFs in the removal of large size antibiotic molecules, and provides a new direction for the design and synthesis of MOFs in the future.

Uniformly growing Co9S8 nanoparticles on flexible carbon foam as a free-standing anode for lithium-ion storage devices

Lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) possesses multiple merits of Faradaic and capacitive behaviors and shows excellent energy and power densities. Herein, Co9S8 nanoparticles embedded on melamine foam derived three-dimensional (3D) carbon foam (M-Co9S8@NCF) was successfully constructed by an in-situ anchoring and annealing method. When the composite was used as a free-standing anode electrode of lithium-ion battery, volume expansion effect is relieved and reaction kinetic is significantly improved benefitting from the synergistic effect of unique 3D carbon network and ultrafine nanoparticles. Therefore, the M-Co9S8@NCF free-standing electrode delivers superior rate performance (1024 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and 468 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1) and stable cycling performance (617 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 for 500 cycles). Moreover, porous nitrogen-doped carbon foam (PNCF) was synthesized as the cathode of LIC. M-Co9S8@NCF//PNCF LIC device was then fabricated to combine the advantages of battery-type anode and supercapacitor-type cathode, which achieves a high energy density (166 Wh kg−1 at 182 W kg−1), high power density (83 Wh kg−1 at 7674 W kg−1) as well as satisfactory capacitance retention (83.5% at 5 A g−1 after 5000 cycles). This work offers a convenient method to construct metal sulfide-based free-standing electrode for the advanced lithium-ion storage devices.