Metal-Induced Self-Assembly Template for Controlled Growth of ZIF-8 Nanorods

A comprehensive method to prepare a one-dimensional (1D) metal–organic framework (MOF) has attracted research interest because the 1D MOFs are useful as precursor materials for the preparation of highly porous carbon nanorods with outstanding electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, making them particularly suitable for electrochemical applications. Herein, the synthesis of 1D zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) nanorods is reported using the metal-induced self-assembly templates of imidazole-functionalized perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PDI-Hm). The size of PDI-Hm self-assemblies is finely tuned on the nanoscale by the method of metal-induced self-assembly whose surface-exposed metal ions were further exploited as nucleation sites for the growth of ZIF-8. Versatility of the metal-induced self-assembly template for the growth of other 1D MOFs was demonstrated using various transition-metal ions on demands. The size-controlled ZIF-8 nanorods were applied further as a precursor material to produce porous, nitrogen-doped carbon nanorods through the carbonization. The carbon nanorods show decent supercapacitor electrode material performance, with enhanced specific capacitance of 292.2 F g–1, because of their unique 1D feature with reduced charge transfer resistance and large specific surface area derived from a downscaled template size under 100 nm.