Nickel nanoparticles incorporated into N-doped porous carbon derived from N-containing nickel-MOF for high-performance supercapacitors

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a kind of coordination network with controllable morphology and porous structure, as a result of which it is considered to have promising application prospect in the energy store. In this work, we report an efficient nickel nanoparticles incorporated into N-doped porous carbon (Ni/N-doped PC) for the cathode materials of supercapacitors, providing a porous structure with a surface area of 112 m(2) g(-1). The surface of Ni nanoparticles may convert to oxides and/or hydroxides when immersed in the alkaline electrolyte. The tests demonstrate that the Ni/N-doped PC-500 displays a high specific capacitance of 2002.6, 1741.2, 1465, 1114.8, and 534.8 Fg(-1) at 1, 2, 5,10, and 20 Ag-1 respectively; and its long cycle life retains 91.5% after 5000 cycles at high current density of 10 Ag-1. The asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) displays a superior energy density of 41.14 Wh Kg(-1) at power density of 800 W kg(-1). The excellent performance can be ascribed to the favorable condition for the exposure of electrochemical reaction active sites; and the combination of Ni nanoparticles with N-doped porous carbon which improves electron transfer as current collector. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.