Preparation of self-doped nitrogen porous carbon derived from MOFs and its electrochemical properties as a composite electrode material

Metal–organic framework compounds with abundant network structures are widely used in gas separation and storage, non-linear optics, catalysis, functional materials, and other applications. Here, self-doped nitrogen porous carbon was prepared by a one-step carbonization of Zn2(ATRZ)2SO4·3H2O synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The self-doped nitrogen porous carbon material (ZYC-800) features a three-dimensional network structure, high specific surface area of 725 m2 g−1, and high nitrogen (7.26%) and oxygen (5.46%) contents. Consequently, the ZYC-800 electrode shows a high specific capacitance of 205.5 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1 and high capacitance retention rate of 71.1% after 5000 cycles. Moreover, a composite electrode material (ZYC-800-5.3) with small redox additives was prepared and showed a high specific capacitance of 274.1 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1. After 5000 cycles, the capacitance retention rate is 72.8%. The results show that the addition of redox additives in self-doped nitrogen porous carbon is an effective method in the development of high performance supercapacitors.