Facile synthesis of graphene-like copper oxide nanofilms with enhanced electrochemical and photocatalytic properties in energy and environmental applications

Novel graphene-like CuO nanofilms are grown on a copper foam substrate by in situ anodization for multifunctional applications as supercapacitor electrodes and photocatalysts for the degradation of dye pollutants. The as-prepared CuO consists of interconnected, highly crystalline, conductive CuO nanosheets with hierarchical open mesopores and a large surface area. The CuO nanofilms supported on a copper foam are employed as freestanding, binder-free electrodes for supercapacitors, which exhibit wonderful electrochemical performance with a large specific capacitance (919 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1), an excellent cycling stability (7% capacitance loss after 5000 cycles), and a good rate capability (748 F g^-1 at 30 A g^-1). The porous CuO nanofilms also demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activities for degradation of methylene blue, with a degradation rate 99% much higher than 54% of the commercial CuO powders after 60 min. This excellent energy storage and photocatalytic performance of the graphene-like CuO nanofilms can open a new avenue for large-scale applications in energy and environmental fields.