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Catalyst-assisted chemical reduction of P-nitrophenol (PNP) with NaBH₄ is an efficient detoxification method. However, there exist many defects in the use of conventional powdery catalysts. In this work, nickel foam-supported NiO nanosheet array film (NiO@NF), fabricated by the hydrothermal-calcination method, was used as a monolithic catalyst for PNP reduction. A PNP reduction conversion of 91.71% with the reaction rate constant of 0.0995 min${}^{-1}$ was obtained within 25 min at 25${}^{\circ }\text{C}$. Moreover, during 13 continuous cycles, the reduction conversion of PNP always stayed above 80%. The results suggest that NiO@NF is a promising non-noble metal monolithic catalyst for PNP reduction owing to its superb catalytic properties, good stability and facile recovery.

The supported nano-Bi₂WO₆–TiO₂/nickel foam photocatalyst was synthesized via spraying method with silica sol as a binder. The as-prepared photocatalyst with large surface and thermal stability exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) solution in sunlight irradiation. The results showed that the RhB solution could be degraded to 71.6% within 60min, exhibiting that improved photocatalytic activity increased by 77.6%, compared with that of pure Bi₂WO₆–TiO₂ nanoparticles. Its high photocatalytic activity was due to the presence of nickel foam in the catalytic process, making the Bi₂WO₆–TiO₂ highly dispersed and increasing the contact area of the photocatalysts with the organic pollutants. At the same time, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for the enhanced photocatalytic performance was investigated.

A solid-state energy storage device has been fabricated using FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays as positive electrode and Fe₂O₃ nanorod as negative electrode. As an electrode material, the ternary FeCo-selenide nanosheet arrays supported by Ni foam show a highest specific capacitance of 978 F/g (specific capacity of 163mAh/g) at 1 A/g and a superior cycle behavior of 81.2% are obtained after 5000 cycles at current density of 4 A/g. The asymmetric supercapacitor achieves the maximum energy density of 34.6Wh/kg at the power density of 759.6W/kg. Furthermore, the superior cycling stability with 83% retention of initial capacitance after 5000 cycles further verify the practical applications of FeCo-selenide//Fe₂O₃ asymmetric supercapacitor. Meanwhile, the LED bulb and the light board of “CUMT” are lighted by connecting several capacitors to form a series circuit.

Three-dimensional (3D) mixed phases NiSe nanoparticles growing on the nickel foam were synthesized via a simple one-step hydrothermal method. A series of experiments were carried out to control the morphology by adjusting the amount of selenium in the synthetic reaction. Meanwhile, the as-prepared novel column-acicular structure NiSe exist three advantages including ideal electrical conductivity, high specific capacity and high cycling stability. It delivered a high capacitance of 10.8Fcm${}^{-2}$ at a current density$-$ of 5mAcm${}^{-2}$. An electrochemical capacitor device operating at 1.6V was then constructed using NiSe/NF and activated carbon (AC) as positive and negative electrodes. Moreover, the device showed high energy density of 31Whkg${}^{-1}$ at a power density of 0.81kWkg${}^{-1}$, as well as good cycling stability (77% retention after 1500 cycles).

To reduce energy crises and environmental pollution, it is imperative to logically create affordable, stable, efficient, and environmentally friendly bifunctional electrocatalysts based on non-precious metals for total water splitting. In this study, we designed and synthesized sea urchin-like structured CoFe/CuCo₂O₄ bifunctional electrocatalysts on nickel foam. Benefiting from the high conductivity of nickel foam and the positive synergistic effect between different component materials, this catalyst exhibited high activity in both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Specifically, the CoFe/CuCo₂O₄/NF-5 material required only 257 mV of OER overpotential and 178 mV of HER overpotential at a current density of 50 mA cm${}^{-2}$. It is worth noting that the alkaline electrolyzer prepared using CoFe/CuCo₂O₄/NF-5 material achieves a low cell voltage of 1.544 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm${}^{-2}$ in overall water splitting and can operate stably for a prolonged period. This work also provides a feasible strategy for green and low-cost electrocatalyst synthesis.