Conductive MOF/Polymer Composite Electrode with Enhanced Capacitance for Supercapacitors

Activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, and crosslinked graphene have been extensively used as electrode materials in electrochemical double-layer capacitors (EDLC). Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) whose surface area exceeds that of the activated carbon makes MOF as a potential electrode material. However, MOFs is conventionally thought to have very poor electrical conductivity, preventing its use as an electrode material for the EDLC applications. Here, we present a facile hydrothermal synthesis and carbonization of Cu based metal-organic framework and polymer fibers. The novel hierarchical porous carbon thus formed showed rich ionic storage unit and conductive pathway delivering excellent specific capacitance of 400 Fg-1 at the current density of 0.05 Ag-1. This novel carbon-based material can contribute towards development of low-cost, high energy/power density supercapacitors.