Robust and conductive two-dimensional metal−organic frameworks with exceptionally high volumetric and areal capacitance

Abstract

For miniaturized capacitive energy storage, volumetric and areal capacitances are more important metrics than gravimetric ones because of the constraints imposed by device volume and chip area. Typically used in commercial supercapacitors, porous carbons, although they provide a stable and reliable performance, lack volumetric performance because of their inherently low density and moderate capacitances. Here we report a high-performing electrode based on conductive hexaaminobenzene (HAB)-derived two-dimensional metal−organic frameworks (MOFs). In addition to possessing a high packing density and hierarchical porous structure, these MOFs also exhibit excellent chemical stability in both acidic and basic aqueous solutions, which is in sharp contrast to conventional MOFs. Submillimetre-thick pellets of HAB MOFs showed high volumetric capacitances up to 760 F cm−3 and high areal capacitances over 20 F cm−2. Furthermore, the HAB MOF electrodes exhibited highly reversible redox behaviours and good cycling stability with a capacitance retention of 90% after 12,000 cycles. These promising results demonstrate the potential of using redox-active conductive MOFs in energy-storage applications. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are attractive electrodes for supercapacitors but generally suffer from low electric conductivity and chemical stability. Here the authors report stable conductive MOFs based on hexaminobenzene linker with volumetric and areal capacitances in excess of 700 F per cm3 and 15 F per cm2, respectively.