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

ABSTRACT 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.