Supercapacitive hybrid materials from the thermolysis of porous coordination nanorods based on a catechol porphyrin

Synthesis of a series of porous coordination polymers with nanorod morphology constructed from a catechol-substituted porphyrin[meso-tetrakis(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) porphyrin] is reported. While the coordination polymers had moderate surface areas (100-400 m(2) g(-1)), their thermolysis in an inert atmosphere led to carboniferous materials with large surface areas (up to 800 m(2) g(-1)), containing metal oxide nanoparticles. Capacitance measurements (by electrochemical charge-discharge and cyclic voltammetry) of the resulting hybrid materials revealed that these hybrid nanomaterials exhibit high (super) capacitances (up to 380 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1)) with good cycling properties. The results demonstrate the utility of using porphyrin coordination polymers for the preparation of hybrid supercapacitor materials and also indicate that these carbon-metal oxide nanoparticle materials are promising for energy storage applications.