Metal-organic framework derived zirconium oxide/carbon composite as an improved supercapacitor electrode

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 235; p. 121351
• Main Authors: Shrivastav, Vishal, Sundriyal, Shashank, Tiwari, Umesh K., Kim, Ki-Hyun, Deep, Akash
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 15.11.2021; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Capacitance; Carbon; Electrochemical analysis; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Energy storage; Flux density; Metal oxides; Metal-organic frameworks; Nanocomposites; Polymer gels; Polymers; Power density; Pyrolysis; Solid-state supercapacitor; Specific capacitance; Supercapacitors; UiO-66; Zirconium; Zirconium dioxide; Zirconium oxides; ZrO2/C composite; Power density; Solid-state supercapacitor; Specific capacitance; UiO-66; ZrO2/C composite
• ISSN: 0360-5442; 1873-6785
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121351

The pyrolysis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an effective strategy for the synthesis of novel nanoporous structures for energy storage applications. In this work, the preparation of a zirconium oxide/carbon (ZrO2/C) nanocomposite via the pyrolysis of UiO-66 (a zirconium-based MOF) is reported for the first time. These MOF-derived metal oxide/carbon (ZrO2/C) materials have a great advantage in the case of supercapacitor applications over other MOFs or their derivatives as they do not need any external conductive agent. The ZrO2/C electrode exhibits an excellent electrochemical performance, delivering a specific capacitance of 241.5 F/g at 1 A/g current density. A 2 V symmetrical supercapacitor device is also prepared by employing a solid-state polymer gel electrolyte. The assembled device of ZrO2/C electrode has delivered a high energy density of around 29 Wh/kg (at a high power density of 1.5 kW/kg) while retaining almost 97% of the specific capacitance even after 2000 continuous charge/discharge cycles. •The development of efficient supercapacitor is a viable strategy to achieve energy storage devices.•Uniformly distributed oxides/carbon/oxide-carbon structures are prepared by the pyrolysis of MOF.•ZrO2/C composite is prepared via one-step pyrolysis of UiO-66 (zirconium-based MOF).•Superiority of a MOF-derived ZrO2/C composite is demonstrated in supercapacitor applications.