A zinc ion hybrid capacitor based on sharpened pencil-like hierarchically porous carbon derived from metal–organic framework

Aqueous zinc ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) are an emerging class of energy storage devices with the merits of high-energy-power density, low cost and high safety. But the energy density still is behind the expectation due to the low voltage output and small specific capacitance. Seeking high performance capacitive-type carbon material are the one choice to capture these challenges. Herein, a high performance ZIHC device in aqueous electrolyte was assembled by using a sharpened pencil-like hierarchically porous carbon rod derived from the metal–organic framework. Thanks to the high specific surface area, fairish pore size distribution and rich oxygen-containing functional groups of carbon cathode, the excellent specific capacitance and high energy density were demonstrated. The assembled ZIHC device could achieve a high energy density of 130.1 W h kg−1 at power output of 180.3 W kg−1 under a relatively wide operation voltage of 0–1.8 V, and remain 59 W h kg−1 even at high power density of 7.8 kW kg−1. Meanwhile, this device also exhibited an excellent cycling life up to 10 000 cycles at 10 A g−1 with capacity retention of 96.7%. This research provides a new idea for the application of MOF-derived carbon materials in zinc ion hybrid capacitors.