Metallic foams are materials with unique properties, including high surface area, good electrical and thermal conductivity, and enhanced catalytic activity; making them good candidates as fuel cell catalysts and support for battery electrodes. In this work, copper and bimetallic Cu foams are prepared by chemically etching aluminum rich metal alloys in sodium hydroxide. This presentation will highlight recent work from our group on the tunable properties of electroactive metal foams and their effect on the electrocatalytic activity of O2 reduction to form water or peroxide and the electrooxidation reaction of alcohols and organic acids to CO2. In-situ methods for probing reaction intermediates for elucidating reaction mechanism will also be discussed.

Nanoporous copper foams as a platform for synthesizing active oxygen reduction and alcohol oxidation catalysts

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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