Synergistic Enhancements of Zn-ZIF with Nano Zinc Oxide for Hydrogen adsorption, energy storage, and photocatalytic technologies

Abstract

Creating the porous Zinc-Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework (Zn-ZIF) using a solvothermal technique addresses the need for advanced materials with distinctive properties and cost-effectiveness in modern applications. The PXRD, SEM, UV-DRS, TEM, and TGA/DTG are used to characterize different concentrations of Zn-ZIF. Zn-ZIF's crystalline structure and phase purity have been verified by PXRD. Using diffuse reflectance spectra, the Kubelka-Monk function determined the band gaps of the Zn-ZIF samples, and scanning electron microscopy revealed a more porous structure. At 77 K and 1 bar, the Zn-ZIF solution with a 2:1 ratio had the highest hydrogen storage capacity (1.71 wt%). The electrochemical behavior of several Zn-ZIF electrodes in a 6 M KOH electrolyte was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments. The Zn-ZIF electrode with a 2:1 ratio exhibits a low charge transfer resistance and a high proton diffusion coefficient (D) of 1.687 × 10−4 cm2 s−1. The characteristics of the 2:1 synthesized Zn-ZIF electrode as a supercapacitor were investigated. Our analysis of the generated Zn-ZIF material's specific capacitance values after 2000 cycles revealed an impressive retention rate of nearly 89 %, with values of 296.6 Fg-1. In addition, we examined the photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized material by exposing it to ultraviolet light and seeing how it degraded organic dyes such as Cango-Red (CR) dye. With a photocatalytic efficacy of 95.06 % for CR dye, Zn-ZIF (2:1 ratio) is the most effective. These findings should provide new knowledge for researchers interested in developing novel Zn-ZIF materials for photocatalytic, energy storage, and hydrogen storage applications.