Synthesis and electrochemical capacitive properties of nitrogen-doped porous carbon micropolyhedra by direct carbonization of zeolitic imidazolate framework-11

Abstract Nitrogen-doped porous carbon micropolyhedra (N-PCMPs) were successfully prepared by direct carbonization of ZIF-11 polyhedra and further activated with fused KOH to obtain N-PCMPs-A. The morphology and microstructure of samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and micropore and chemisorption analyzer. Electrochemical properties were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge method in 1.0 M H 2 SO 4 aqueous solution on a standard three-electrode system. Results show that, compared with N-PCMPs, N-PCMPs-A has higher specific surface area (2188 m 2 g −1 ) and exhibits improved electrochemical capacitive properties (307 F g −1 at 1.0 A g −1 ). The mass specific capacitance of N-PCMPs-A is also higher than that of most MOF-derived carbons, some carbide-derived carbons and carbon aerogel-derived carbons. In addition, the capacitance of the N-PCMPs-A retains 90% after 4000 cycles even at a high current density of 10 A g −1 . These imply that N-PCMPs-A is the promising materials for the construction of a high-performance supercapacitor.