Three-dimensional hollow N-doped ZIF-8-derived carbon@MnO2 composites for supercapacitors

Indeed, achieving control over the morphological as well as structural attributes of materials is highly desirable to fabricate the high-performance electrodes for their utilization as supercapacitors. In an attempt to demonstrate this aspect, a low-cost and facile method is developed to synthesize the three-dimensional (3D) core-shell composites based on hollow N-doped carbon (HNC)@MnO2 for supercapacitors application. In this framework, the ZIF-8-based hollow polyhedron carbon core serves not only as a templating support but also as the conducting material for the MnO(2)( )shell to improve the performance of the capacitor. Notably, these unique core-shell architectures resulted in an extensive interfacial surface area, which substantially allowed the rapid diffusion of electrolyte through its hollow framework towards achieving a swift electronic movement through the carbon backbone. Such core-shell hybrids displayed an excellent electrochemical capacitance performance of 247.9 F g(-1) in Na2SO4 electrolyte (1 M) at 0.5 A g(-1) and a tremendous cycle capacity with the retention capacity of 82.9% even after 2000 cycles at 5 A g(-1). Together, our findings explicitly demonstrate the optimization of the construction of innovative composite materials toward synergistic effects for improved electrochemical performances.