Nanoporous copper: Fabrication techniques and advanced electrochemical applications

Nanoporous copper (NPC), a representative type of nanostructured materials, holds an extensive ability to generate propitious potential for a broad range of highly promising applications. Especially, with the advancement in fabrication techniques, NPC with numerous special and superior properties, such as unique pore structure, large surface-to-volume ratio, enlarged specific surface area, and high electrical and thermal conductivities, has boosted the interest to explore its electrochemical properties and extended its promising applications in energy, sensing, actuation, and catalytic systems. Therefore, timely updates of such a type of material are highly demanding and appealing for a broad audience. This review summarizes the latest advances in the development of NPC with a special focus on synthesis methods and state-of-the-art electrochemical applications such as electrocatalysts, sensors, and energy conversion/storage systems. The important scientific disputes and future research directions are also presented.