Organic Ligand-Mediated Surface Engineering of CuO-ZnO Nanoarrays for Enhanced Lithium Storage in Freestanding Anodes

In this study, a hierarchical CuO-ZnO "web-on-grass" like nanostructure is successfully constructed on copper mesh (CZO@Cu) as a high-performance freestanding anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). To further enhance the structural stability and electrochemical performance of CZO@Cu, a novel surface engineering strategy has been developed using two structurally distinct organic ligands, resulting in CZO-MeIM@Cu and CZO-BTC@Cu. The surface functionalization significantly improves electrochemical behavior, with CZO-BTC@Cu exhibiting superior cycling performance, retaining 1375 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles at 0.5 A g^-1, and excellent rate performance, maintaining 620 mAh g^-1 at 10 A g^-1. Electrochemical analyses reveal that the BTC-based functionalization reduces charge transfer resistance and facilitate lithium-ion diffusion. This study provides valuable insights into optimizing metal oxide anodes for advanced energy storage applications and offers a promising strategy to improve the performance of oxide-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries.