Synthesis of Mesoporous ZIF-8 Nanoribbons and their Conversion into Carbon Nanoribbons for High-Performance Supercapacitors

ZIF-8 nanoribbons, with tunable morphology and pore structure, were synthesized by using the tri-block co-polymer Pluronic F127 as a soft template. The as-synthesized ZIF-8 nanoribbons were converted into carbon nanoribbons by thermal transformation with largely preserved morphology and porosity. The resulting carbon nanoribbons feature both micro- and meso-pores with high surface areas of over 1000 m(2) g(-1). In addition, nitrogen-doping in the carbon nanoribbons was achieved, as confirmed by XPS and EELS measurements. The hybrid carbon nanoribbons provide pseudo-capacitance that promotes electrochemical performance, rendering a high specific capacitance of up to 297 Fg(-1) at a current density of 0.5 Ag-1 in a three-electrode system. A long cycle life was also demonstrated by recording a 90.26% preservation of capacitance after 10000 cycles of charge-discharge at a current density of 4.0 Ag-1. Furthermore, a symmetrical supercapacitor is fabricated by employing the carbon nanoribbons, which shows good electrochemical performance with respect to energy, power and cycle life.