Directly grown Si nanowire arrays on Cu foam with a coral-like surface for lithium-ion batteries.

In order to mitigate the drastic volumetric expansion (>300%) of silicon (Si) during the lithiation process, we demonstrate the synthesis of novel Si nanowire arrays (n-SNWAs) with a coral-like surface on Cu foam via a one-step CVD method, in which the Cu foam can simultaneously act as a catalyst and current collector. The unique coral-like surface endows n-SNWAs with a high structural integrity, which is beneficial for enhancing their electrochemical performance. In addition, the as-prepared n-SNWAs on Cu foam can be directly applied as the anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), exhibiting a very high reversible discharge capacity (2745 mA h g(-1) at 200 mA g(-1)) and a fast charge and discharge capability (884 mA h g(-1) at 3200 mA g(-1)), which is much higher than the conventional SNWAs (c-SNWAs, only 127 mA h g(-1) at 3200 mA g(-1)).

Highly conductive and flexible polymer composites with improved mechanical and electromagnetic interference shielding performances.

New flexible and conductive materials (FCMs) comprising a quartz fiber cloth (QFC) reinforced multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-carbon aerogel (QMCA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) have been successfully prepared. The QMCA-PDMS composite with a very low loading of MWCNTs (∼1.6 wt%) demonstrates enhanced performance in tensile strength (129.