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The pyrolysis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an effective strategy for the synthesis of novel nanoporous structures for energy storage applications. In this work, the preparation of a zirconium oxide/carbon (ZrO 2 /C) nanocomposite via the pyrolysis of UiO-66 (a zirconium-based MOF) is reported for the first time. These MOF-derived metal oxide/carbon (ZrO 2 /C) materials have a great advantage in the case of supercapacitor applications over other MOFs or their derivatives as they do not need any external conductive agent. The ZrO 2 /C electrode exhibits an excellent electrochemical performance, delivering a specific capacitance of 241.5 F/g at 1 A/g current density. A 2 V symmetrical supercapacitor device is also prepared by employing a solid-state polymer gel electrolyte. The assembled device of ZrO 2 /C electrode has delivered a high energy density of around 29 Wh/kg (at a high power density of 1.5 kW/kg) while retaining almost 97% of the specific capacitance even after 2000 continuous charge/discharge cycles. • The development of efficient supercapacitor is a viable strategy to achieve energy storage devices. • Uniformly distributed oxides/carbon/oxide-carbon structures are prepared by the pyrolysis of MOF. • ZrO 2 /C composite is prepared via one-step pyrolysis of UiO-66 (zirconium-based MOF). • Superiority of a MOF-derived ZrO 2 /C composite is demonstrated in supercapacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]