Facile synthesis and supercapacitive properties of Zr-metal organic frameworks (UiO-66)

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs), a kind of crystalline porous material, have attracted much attention due to their high surface area and controllable porous structure. In this paper, we present a new synthesis of Zr-based MOFs with high electrochemical performance by a facile synthetic method of changing the reaction temperature and stirring condition. By varying the reaction temperature, different particle sizes and degrees of crystallization can be obtained. This paper focuses on the electrochemical properties of Zr-based MOFs as electrode materials in supercapacitors. The maximum specific capacitance of Zr-MOF1 obtained at 50 °C can reach up to 1144 F g−1 at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1, which is far higher than Zr-MOF2 (811 F g−1), Zr-MOF3 (517 F g−1) and Zr-MOF4(207 F g−1). The results of electrochemical measurements show that the Zr-MOF1 we synthesized has excellent capacitance performance and good cycling stability over 2000 cycles, which makes it a promising supercapacitor electrode material.