Issue 32, 2023

A novel catalyst derived from Co-ZIFs to grow N-doped carbon nanotubes for all-solid-state supercapacitors with high performance

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely used as electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage devices (e.g., supercapacitors) due to their excellent chemical and physical properties. However, conventional approaches (e.g., electron-beam vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition) to fabricate catalysts for the growth of CNTs are complex and demand high energy consumption. Herein, we report a facile method to synthesize catalysts derived from cobalt-containing zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (Co-ZIFs), which is exploited to in situ construct the three-dimensional (3D) CNT hybrid materials for all-solid-state supercapacitors. In brief, Co-ZIFs with a controllable structure is first grown on the inner porous surface of carbon foams pyrolyzed from commercial melamine foams, followed by thermal annealing and chemical vapor deposition to grow CNTs, achieving 3D free-standing CNT-based hybrids. The well-distributed Co-ZIFs in the carbon foam enable the grown CNTs with uniform structures and morphologies. Using the fabricated CNT-based hybrid as electrodes, the assembled all-solid-state supercapacitors show a high specific capacitance of 19.4 mF cm−2 at a current density of 0.5 mA cm−2, which could be further optimized to as high as 871.8 mF cm−2 by incorporating the pseudocapacitive material of manganese dioxide in CNT-based hybrids. This study provides a facile solution approach to fabricate the catalyst for the growth of a CNT inner porous substrate; the resultant 3D free-standing hybrids could be used as efficient electrodes for high-performance energy storage devices beyond supercapacitors.

Graphical abstract: A novel catalyst derived from Co-ZIFs to grow N-doped carbon nanotubes for all-solid-state supercapacitors with high performance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 3 2023
Accepted
25 7 2023
First published
25 7 2023

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 13280-13288

A novel catalyst derived from Co-ZIFs to grow N-doped carbon nanotubes for all-solid-state supercapacitors with high performance

Y. Qi, T. Lv, Z. Chen, Y. Duan, X. Li, W. Tang, Q. Sun, D. Zhai and T. Chen, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 13280 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR01411H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements