Recent advances in carbon material and covalent organic framework composites with a focus on supercapacitors

Abstract

In recent years, numerous carbon material and covalent organic framework (COF) composites have been reported, demonstrating remarkable potential as high-performance electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs). COFs possess advantages such as tunable frameworks, variable pore environments, and pre-designed structures. When appropriately combined with carbon materials, these composites can not only overcome the poor conductivity of COFs but also facilitate rapid mass transport in permanently open channels and provide dense active sites for efficient adsorption of electrolyte ions. This review summarizes the representative research progress of carbon material–COF composites for SC applications, focusing on structural design strategies including the introduction of redox-active sites, interfacial bonding engineering, and controlled composite construction. The applications of these composites in various SC devices are systematically discussed, covering symmetric and asymmetric configurations, as well as flexible and micro-supercapacitor devices. Moreover, we provide a critical overview of the key challenges currently facing this field, such as insufficient structural and electrochemical stability, limited ion transport in stacked structures, difficulties in achieving large-scale and reproducible synthesis, as well as inferior interfacial contact between components. On this basis, future research directions are proposed to promote the rational design and practical development of high-performance carbon-material-COF composite electrodes for advanced supercapacitors.