Kinetic and Thermodynamic Insights into Advanced Energy Storage Mechanisms of Battery-Type Bimetallic Metal–Organic Frameworks

The engineering of high-performance battery-type electrode materials highly depends on the guidance from the combination of experimental analysis and theoretical simulation. Herein, the joint experimental–theoretical investigation provides a mechanistic explanation for the electrochemical performance enhancement in bimetallic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). The superior CoNi-MOF in our study exhibits advanced electrochemical energy storage performance, achieving a high specific capacity of 382 C g–1 (1 A g–1), 2.0 and 1.4 times that of Co-MOF and Ni-MOF, respectively. Such a significant enhancement results from the surface-controlled reaction kinetics and the low onset potential contributed by the well-tuned electronic structures of bimetallic MOFs. Our study opens up new perspectives for understanding the advantages of mixed metal sites in MOFs for electrochemical energy storage.