Pyrolysis transformation of ZIF-8 wrapped with polytriazine to nitrogen enriched core-shell polyhedrons carbon for supercapacitor

Abstract

This work presents a simple effective strategy to synthesize N-doped and shell-controlled carbon nanocages through a package baking approach. A green approach to synthesize core-shell ZIF-8@PTZ nanoparticles involves zinc contained ZIF-8 core wrapped by a N-enriched polytriazine (PTZ). Synthesized core-shell ZIF-8@PTZ nanoparticles are calcinated to further sublime zinc through PTZ shell and washed by HCl, leaving a porous carbon structure. At the meantime, hollow cavities were introduced into N-doped carbon polyhedrons via the sacrifice of ZIF-8 template (noted as ZIF-8@C/N-x). The electrochemical performance of the ZIF-8@C/N-x as supercapacitor electrode has demonstrated high energy density and specific capacitance, as well as a long-term cycleability showing 92% capacitance retention after 10000 cycles. There is a systematic correlation between micro-/meso-porosity of ZIF-8@C/N-x and their electrochemical performances.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

core-shell / EDLC electrode / microporos nano polygons / nitrogen doped carbon

References

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key Project of Natural Science Research in Anhui Colleges and Universities (KJ2017A070), Anhui Province Natural Science Foundation Project (1908085ME157), and Anhui Province Selective Foundation of Innovation Project for Study Abroad (2019LCX020).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-020-2005-y and is accessible for authorized users.

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