Self-template construction of nanoporous carbon nanorods from a metal-organic framework for supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

The morphologies and structures of nanostructured carbons generally influence their catalysis, electrochemical performance and adsorption properties. Metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocrystals usually have various morphologies, and can be considered as a template to construct nanostructured carbons with shaped nanocubes, nanorods, and hollow particles by thermal transformation. However, thermal carbonization of MOFs usually leads to collapse of MOF structures. Here, we report shape-preserved carbons (termed as CNRods) by thermal transformation of nickel catecholate framework (Ni-CAT) nanorods. Supercapacitors of CNRods treated at 800 °C were demonstrated to have enhanced performance due to t..