This study presents a bromide-modulated electrolytic route for producing ultralight copper powder (UCP) through the coupled regulation of copper deposition behavior and hierarchical microstructure evolution. Electrochemical measurements, potential-dependent phase identification, and time-resolved ex situ characterization support the transient participation of CuBr-rich species during Br--modified copper deposition. The results are consistent with a proposed additional CuBr-mediated route involving Cu2+ → CuBr-rich species → Cu0 that operates alongside direct Cu2+ reduction, thereby altering the nucleation and growth behavior of copper deposits. Based on the observed temporal evolution, a four-stage growth model is proposed: (i) formation and assembly of CuBr-rich particles, (ii) progressive disappearance and structural collapse of the early deposits under continued cathodic polarization, (iii) emergence and fractal reconstruction of Cu-rich particles, and (iv) diffusion-dominated growth of fern-like dendrites. The resulting UCP exhibits an ultralow apparent density of 0.18 g cm-3 and a specific surface area of 4.9 m2 g-1, which is 6.1 times that of a commercial copper powder reference, owing to the multiscale porosity of its fractal dendritic architecture. This hierarchical structure also imparts a static water contact angle of ∼151°, consistent with air retention at the interface. In antibacterial tests, 0.50 g L-1 UCP-30Br with 12 h exposure reduced culturable Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to below the detection limit. This efficacy is consistent with enhanced physical contact and interfacial interactions enabled by the hierarchical architecture, coupled with a higher endpoint concentration of soluble copper. Notably, the Br--modified process achieved a current efficiency of 89.7% and a specific DC energy consumption of 1050.9 kWh t-1 under the optimized conditions, representing a 21.9% decrease relative to the Br--free control.

Developing green and controllable routes for copper nanoparticle synthesis remains important for expanding their functional applications. Herein, a non-electrochemical one-pot chemical reduction strategy was developed for synthesizing copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) in ethaline deep eutectic solvent (DES). The phase evolution of copper species was systematically investigated by regulating reaction temperature and time. The results revealed a stepwise transformation pathway from soluble [CuCl4](2-) complexes to an amorphous Cu-II-O/OH-H2O precursor, a crystalline Cu2O intermediate, and finally metallic Cu-0 nanoparticles. This transformation was driven by the combined effects of KOH-induced coordination perturbation, NaH2PO2-mediated stepwise reduction, and ethaline-regulated interfacial confinement. Under the optimized condition of 383 K for 6 h, high-purity (> 99 wt%), highly crystalline, quasi-spherical Cu NPs with a median particle size of 94.6 nm were obtained without external capping agents. The optimized Cu NPs exhibited stronger antibacterial activity than commercial ultrafine Cu powder against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli under agar-dilution conditions. At 0.5 g L-1 after 12 h incubation, no visible colony formation was observed for the Cu NP-treated groups. Concentration-dependent antibacterial tests, FESEM observations, and ICP-MS analysis further suggest that the antibacterial activity is associated with nanoscale particle-bacteria interactions, bacterial envelope damage, and enhanced availability of soluble copper species. This work provides mechanistic insight into DES-mediated phase-directed Cu nanoparticle formation and offers a practical route for preparing functional antibacterial copper nanomaterials.

The development of high-efficiency, earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for scalable green hydrogen production, yet challenges persist in balancing activity, stability, and cost. Herein, we present a sustainable approach to synthesize Fe-doped cobalt sulfide (Co-S-30Fe) nanoparticles using an ethaline deep eutectic solvent-mediated strategy, which enables precise control over Fe incorporation to optimize both structural and electronic properties. The engineered Co-S-30Fe/NF electrode exhibited exceptional OER performance in alkaline media, requiring an overpotential of only 278 mV at 100 mA cm-2, with a Tafel slope of 44.6 mV dec-1 and outstanding operational stability. Spectroscopic analyses revealed that Fe3+ doping induces three synergistic effects: (1) coexistence of dynamically active Co2+/Co3+ and Fe2+/Fe3+ redox couples, (2) substantial oxygen vacancy generation, and (3) ethaline-directed self-assembly of monodisperse nanospheres (∼96 nm) with 31.6% higher electrochemical surface area. This synergy of electronic reconstruction, defect engineering, and morphology control significantly enhances charge transfer kinetics (67% reduction in charge-transfer resistance) and intrinsic catalytic activity (4.4-fold increase in turnover frequency) compared to undoped Co-S. Critically, in situ electrochemical reorganization during the OER induced a surface transformation into oxygen-rich Co(Fe)-O/OH species, addressing the activity-stability trade-off. When integrated into a Co-S-30Fe/NF‖Pt/C/NF electrolyzer, the system achieved overall water splitting at low cell voltages of 1.53 V and 1.75 V (10 and 100 mA cm-2, respectively) while maintaining stable operation for 100 h at 10 mA cm-2.

Cathode residue formation during electrolytic copper powder (ECP) production substantially impacts product quality and process efficiency. This study revealed the formation mechanism of these residues and comprehensively assessed their physicochemical characteristics and effects on the production process. Cross-sectional and topographical analyses unveiled a phased deposition process resulting in ECP’s distinctive three-layer structure, which features a dense base layer firmly bonded to the copper substrate through an electroplating mechanism. This complex base layer remains as the residual structure adhered to the substrate after the outer layers of ECP are scraped off. Notably, after 30 deposition cycles, the continuous accumulation of residues on the cathode led to significant surface deterioration, characterized by a 47.7-fold increase in apparent electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and a residual layer thickness reaching 147.46 μm. These changes led to localized over-deposition and disordered copper growth, markedly impacting ECP morphology, particle size distribution, and process efficiency. To address these issues, a novel periodic reverse current technology was developed and applied. This approach effectively eliminated residue accumulation, mitigated the surge in surface roughness and ECSA, and limited the decrease in current efficiency, while curtailing the rise in energy consumption. Consequently, both the quality and efficiency of ECP production were markedly enhanced.

This study developed a synergistic strategy using chloride ions (Cl-) and choline bitartrate (CBT) as binary additives to address the longstanding trade-off between high specific surface area and structural stability in ultralight copper powders (UCPs). Multiscale electrochemical analyses and morphological characterization revealed that the Cl--CBT pair modulated copper electrodeposition kinetics via dynamic coordination and interfacial adsorption, enabling control of dendritic growth. At a Cl-:CBT molar ratio of 1:1, the system promoted three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation, reduced charge transfer resistance by 27.3%, and constructed a fractal dendritic architecture with balanced branch density and structural integrity. This strategy mitigated excessive dendrite thinning and structural collapse and improved mechanical robustness. Under a benchmark factory process conditions, the synthesized UCP (P-Cl-CBT) exhibited ultralow apparent density (0.41 g cm(-3)), refined median particle size (D-50, 44.25 mu m), and enhanced process efficiency (3.3% higher current efficiency, 5.9% lower energy consumption). In vibration testing (24 h, 2.5 Hz, 20 mm amplitude), the fractal framework retained >95% structural integrity, with negligible changes in D-50 (Delta = -2.69%) and apparent density (Delta = +2.4%). Elemental and crystallographic analyses indicated negligible additive incorporation and preservation of the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, consistent with high purity. (c) 2025 The Electrochemical Society ("ECS"). Published on behalf of ECS by IOP Publishing Limited. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.

This study introduces an automated rotating cathode roller electrolysis system designed to eliminate cathode residue and ensure consistent production of high-quality dendritic copper powder (DCP). We systematically evaluated Cu, Mo, 316 L stainless steel (316 L), Ti, and Ta cathodes to unravel their impact on DCP morphology, residue accumulation, and energy efficiency. After 10 deposition cycles (10 min/cycle), Cu cathodes accumulated severe residue (89.62 g m-2), causing particle coarsening, a 51 % increase in apparent density, and 60 % higher energy consumption. The residue formation mechanism involves the initial deposition of a dense copper layer that bonds firmly to the Cu substrate, evolving into a residual layer after scraping. Ti initially showed low residue but degraded cyclically. Mo formed weakly adherent deposits that fragmented during scraping. In stark contrast, 316 L and Ta exhibited near-zero residue accumulation, consistently producing superior DCP with low apparent density (0.37-0.69 g cm-3) and fine particle size (10.02-29.82 mu m). Surface characterization revealed that the presence of protective oxide layers on 316 L and Ta surfaces is key to inhibiting residue formation and corrosion. Ta emerged as the optimal cathode, achieving zero residue, exceptional corrosion resistance, stable high-quality DCP output, and minimal energy consumption during long-term operation.

This study presents a green strategy for synthesizing amorphous cobalt sulfide (Co–S) bifunctional electrocatalysts via a choline chloride–ethylene glycol deep eutectic solvent (DES) under ambient conditions, addressing ionic coordination dynamics and defect engineering for enhanced solid–state ionic/electronic transport in energy conversion. By modulating the equilibrium between Co2+ and S₂O₃2- ions in Ethaline, we fabricated monodisperse Co–150S nanoparticles ( 78 nm) with tailored sulfur content (S/Co = 1.9), an amorphous architecture, and abundant oxygen vacancies. These structural features synergistically optimized ionic diffusion pathways and electronic conductivity, achieving exceptional hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activities in alkaline media. The Co–150S/NF electrode demonstrated a volcano-like sulfur-dependent activity profile, achieving the highest electrochemically active surface area (ECSA, 3.7 cm2) and ultralow overpotentials of − 105 mV (HER) and 277 mV (OER) at 10 mA cm⁻2, comparable to benchmark Pt/C and RuO₂ catalysts. Post-electrolysis characterization revealed dynamic structural reorganization during HER and OER operations, involving over 80 at

The production of ultralight copper powder (UCP) remains challenging due to the requisite ultralow apparent density coupled with a well-developed dendritic morphology, which greatly constrain the modulation and optimization of process parameters. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive investigation to gain deeper insights into the impact of these parameters on the performance of deposited UCPs. Our findings revealed the limitations of relying solely on conventional electrolytic parameters for tailored UCP production. To overcome this challenge, the introduction of hydrochloric acid into the electrolyte system was proposed. Upon which, remarkable improvements in UCP production were observed, including optimized dendritic morphology, enhanced current efficiency and reduced power consumption. By adjusting the amount of chloride addition, UCPs with tunable particle sizes and apparent densities were obtained. Under the benchmark factory process condition, the chloride-treated UCP exhibited an ultralow apparent density (0.47 g cm−3) and particle size (19.96 μm), considerably surpassing the corresponding figures for industrial copper powder (1.79 g cm−3 and 64.10 μm) and even the optimum values achieved by GGP Metalpowder AG for their UCP products (0.55 g cm−3 and < 63 μm), with 22.5

When examining fractal growth issues in electrodeposited metals, analytical and control models for growth based on diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) are frequently used. In this work, an improved DLA model was used to design a simulation program for the growth of copper dendrites deposited on point and plate electrodes. The effect of copper ion concentration on the fractal growth of copper powder dendrites was investigated. It was found that the morphology of the simulated particles in point electrodes changed from a disordered dense structure to an open dendritic structure, and the fractal dimension decreased as the binding probability increased. While in the plate electrode, the morphology changed from dense to loose, the void between the dendrite arms expanded, and the thickness of the deposited layer increased. The morphology of copper powder dendrites matched the real electrodeposition. The shape of the deposited copper was strongly influenced by the concentration of copper ions.

Aerospace magnetic material scraps are abundant in cobalt and nickel. Sulfuric acid leaching process is an efficient method for extracting them. But it is a non-selective process, a significant amount of iron dissolves in the solution. This study focuses on the selective removal of iron from this solution using the jarosite process. Eh-pH diagram of K-S-Fe-H2O system was established. Based on thermodynamic analysis, H2O2 is used to oxidize Fe2+ into Fe3+, achieving efficient and selective removal of iron from the solution containing cobalt and nickel. The optimal conditions are as follows: temperature 95 degrees C, K2SO4 dosage coefficient 1.5, seed dosage 10 g/L, time 90 min, pH 1.76, and endpoint pH controlled at approximately 3. Under these conditions, the iron removal efficiency is above 99%, while the loss ratios of cobalt and nickel are below 2%. The product is characterized by XRD and SEM-EDS. Results indicate that the product is jarosite ((K,H3O)Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6), exhibiting an ellipsoid structure with the mean particle size in the range of 0.2-5.0 mu m. Temperature, pH value and seed dosage significantly affect reaction rate, particle size and crystallinity, and K2SO4 dosage mainly affects reaction rate and the morphology of jarosite. The jarosite crystallization kinetics can be described by the Avrami equation, with an Avrami index (n) of approximately 2.5 and the apparent activation energy of 42.68 kJ/mol.

阐述了有色金属设计与计算课程的教学目标与育人目标,探讨了课程思政育人实践,包括讲好有色设计故事,传承优秀文化,激发学生家国情怀;科研反哺教学,强化科技强国理念,培养科学系统思维;虚拟、竞赛进课堂,提高专业自信,培养大国工匠精神;注重工程伦理教育,关注环保与可持续发展,强化使命担当.

重庆科技学院国家级钢铁制造虚拟仿真实验教学中心基于"虚实结合,能实不虚,流程主线,纵横扩展"的"大冶金、全流程"平台建设理念,建成了钢铁生产全流程、黑色与有色工艺兼顾,集教学、科研、服务"三位一体"的实验教学平台,将实验教学中心资源应用于冶金工程专业实践教学,解决了传统冶金工程实践教学遇到的时间、空间、资金等难题,激发了学生的学习兴趣,增强了学生学习积极性和主动性,提高了学生解决复杂工程问题的能力,为冶金工程"一流专业"实践教学质量的提高提供了可靠保障,有利于应用型人才和卓越工程师的培养.

针对有色金属冶金实践教学内容覆盖范围大、任务重、考核方式单一、实习费用高、危险性大等问题,建立了有色金属冶金虚拟仿真实践教学平台,通过将虚拟仿真实习与工厂实地实习相结合以获得更好的教学效果.同时,对虚拟仿真实习实训的教学优势和不足进行了分析.

Herein, S-doped Co-Fe hybrid films with unique 3D porous microsphere arrays stacked by ultrathin nanoflakes directly grown on nickel foam (Co-Fe-S NFs@MS/NF) are synthesized via a single-step co-electrodeposition strategy. The synergistic effects among Fe, S and Co enable superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic activity in basic environments. Impressively, this hybrid material can achieve further enhanced OER catalytic performance with surface self-assembly through in-situ electrochemical oxidation activation in both gentle alkaline (GA: 1.0 M KOH at 298 K) and industrial alkaline (IA: 30 wt.% KOH at 353 K) water electrolysis conditions. The transition processes are revealed in detail regarding the chemical, structural, and catalytic properties of the catalysts served in the GA and IA conditions. The pristine quasi-amorphous Co-Fe-S is found to partially transform into crystallized Co(Fe)OOH in the GA condition, while it remains amorphous nature in the IA condition. The enhanced OER activity is attributed to the formation of active Co(Fe)OOH species with massively proliferated specific surface area, optimized electronic structure, and accelerated kinetics. The activated Co-Fe-S NFs@MS/NF exhibits excellent OER activity, achieving 10 and 500 mA cm(-2) at ultralow potentials of 1.453 (iR corrected) and 1.517 V with outstanding durability in the GA and IA conditions, respectively. For full water splitting, the assembled two-electrode system based on the Co-Fe-S NFs@MS/NF anode and a Co-S based cathode affords voltages of only 1.518 and 1.685 V to robustly deliver 10 and 500 mA cm(-2) in GA and IA conditions over 200 h, respectively. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The realization of efficient oxygen evolution reaction(OER) is critical to the development of multiple sustainable energy conversion and storage technologies, especially hydrogen production via water electrolysis. To achieve the massive application of hydrogen energy and mass-scale hydrogen production from water splitting drives the pursuit of competent precious-metal-free electrocatalysts in acidic media, where the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) is more facilitated. However, the development of high-efficient and acid-stable OER electrocatalysts, which are robust to function stably at high oxidation potentials in the acidic electrolyte, remains a great challenge. This article contributes a focused, perceptive review of the up-to-date approaches toward this emerging research field. The OER reaction mechanism and fundamental requirements for oxygen evolution electrocatalysts in acid are introduced. Then the progress and new discoveries of precious-metal-free active materials and design concepts with regard to the improvement of the intrinsic OER activity are discussed. Finally, the existing scientific challenges and the outlooks for future research directions to the fabrication of emerging, earth-abundant OER electrocatalysts in acid are pointed out.

Herein, we perform a facile one-step deep eutectic solvent electrodeposition approach to fabricate a series of S-doping highly porous Co-S films by in situ grown on Ni foam (Co-S/NF), which exhibits a superior catalytic activity and robust nature for both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (OER and HER) in alkaline media. The doping of S is evidenced to induce a structural and size transition on the Co deposited layer, which leads to a significant increase on the electrochemical surface area and more accessible active sites for enhancing the catalytic activity. The formation of oxygen deficiencies-rich Co-O/OH species with a phase transformation from Co-S species is noticed during OER. Benefiting from the merits of in situ growth, the Co-S films obtained at an optimal S doping level (denoted as Co-S-50/NF) can robustly drive high current densities of 100 and 500 mA cm(-2) with low overpotentials of 322 and 368 mV for OER, and 124 and 155 mV for HER. The water electrolyzer assembled with Co-S-50/NF requires only 1.79 and 2.08 V to reach 100 and 500 mA cm(-2) in 1.0 M KOH, and 1.72 V to achieve 500 mA cm(-2) in 30 wt% KOH at 353 K for over 150 h.

针对有色金属冶金方向的特点,结合社会与企业需求,从实习企业选择、理论课与实践课对接及虚拟仿真平台建设等方面,探索提高有色金属冶金方向生产实习教学效果的措施,培养具有一定工程基础和实践能力的应用型人才.

Herein, 3D hierarchically porous Co and S co-modificated nickel microsphere arrays developed on nickel foam (NF) substrate (NiCoxSy/NF) are synthesized via a facile template-free electrodeposition protocol in Ethaline-based deep eutectic solvent. The resultant NiCoxSy/NF at optimal incorporating level shows highly efficient electrochemical water splitting performance. The NiCoxSy/NF-based alkaline water electrolyzer requires small cell voltages of 1.57 and 1.63 V to reach 10 and 20 mA cm(-2) overall current densities, sequentially, along with robust durability for over 100 h. Density function theory (DFT) study indicates that the synergistic actions induced by the dual-incorporation of Co and S, enabling to optimize the binding energies for water dissociation, hydrogen adsorption/desorption as well as the oxygen-containing intermediates. The NiCoxSy/NF manifests excellent electrocapacitive performance with high capacitance (4964 mF cm(-2) at 5 mA cm(-2)) and well cycling stability (0.4% decay after 5000 cycles) being an electrode material for supercapacitor application. Particularly, an all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor based on NiCoxSy/NF yields high energy density (48.46 Wh kg(-1) at 500 W kg(-1)) with superior cycling durability (6.2% decay after 10,000 cycles). This study contributes a facile path for the synthesis of hierarchically porous materials and highlights the effect of multielement synergistic modulation to boost the electrochemical activity.

利用具有平行流进液装置的新型电解槽,在电解液总流量为18 L/min条件下,采用不同的进液模式制备电解铜粉,研究电解液进液方式对槽电压、电流效率、电解能耗和铜粉性能的影响,对电解法制备铜粉的节能降耗进行探索.结果表明,采用传统进液方式时能耗为3.01×106 kJ/t,电流效率为94.42％,铜粉粒度为3.47μm,粒度分布集中;采用传统进液协同阴极双侧平行进液的方式能有效地降低电解过程的槽电压和电解能耗,并且随双侧平行进液流量增大,电流效率增加,能耗下降,但铜粉粒度增大.当双侧平行进液的喷液口流量为6 L/min时较合适,电解能耗较低,为2.55×106 kJ/t,铜粉的平均粒度为4.65μm,95％以上的铜粉粒度小于7.2μm,且铜粉具有明显的树枝状结构,与传统电解得到的铜粉性质相比没有明显差别;当喷液口流量进一步增大至9 L/min(即单独采用双侧平行喷液方式)时,电解能耗进一步下降至2.17×106kJ/t,电流效率提高至96.95％,但铜粉粒度增加至45.76μm,且粒度分布出现明显的分级.