CuS nanospheres interconnected by the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been successfully prepared via a facile one-step microwave-assisted method. The component and microstructure of CuS/CNTs hybrid materials are well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Assembled as electrodes and tested in lithium ion batteries, the composites show impressive electrochemical performances. After 450 cycles, the CuS/0.1 CNT and CuS/0.5 CNT release more than 437 and 569 mAh g −1 , respectively, at 400 mA g −1 , which are superior to those of contrast experiments (pristine CuS and CuS mechanically mixing with CNTs). Even at the high current density of 6400 mA g −1 , the CuS/0.5 CNT still displays the reversible capacity of about 400 mAh g −1 . The improved performances can be ascribed to the inherently CNTs conducting network, boosting the interior electron transport and reaction kinetics, so that a significantly enhanced reversible capacities and rate capability can be realized. Furthermore, the surface properties and reaction kinetics of electrodes are also investigated via cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic intermittence titration (GITT) measurements, proving the enhanced lithium storage properties.
Qun Wei Shu,Chun Mei Li,Peng Fei Gao,Ming Xuan Gao,Cheng Zhi Huang
CuS materials with peroxidase activity have been prepared but greatly limited by the large dosage and low peroxidase activity. In this paper, porous hollow CuS nanospheres with a variety of sizes were fabricated by one-pot method based on a facile template-assisted hydrothermal approach. The size of the porous hollow CuS nanospheres could be simply tuned by adjusting the molar ratios of reactants, the reaction temperature, and time. The as-prepared porous hollow CuS nanospheres were demonstrated to exhibit more prominent intrinsic peroxidase-like activity using TMB as a peroxidase substrate in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This is a significant comparison to previous reports, demonstrating that the new developed synthetic porous hollow CuS nanospheres can be a new kind of candidate for peroxidase mimics, and the nanospheres are promising for applications in biosensors, environmental monitoring, and so on.