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An economically and environmentally sustainable course of action to address energy crisis concerns is to recycle discarded PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastics into value-added products for the aforementioned application. Herein, a high surface area Cu-metal organic framework (Cu-MOF) has been synthesized through an economically feasible approach using trash PET plastic. However, electrochemical properties of pristine MOFs are hindered due to their poor stability and low intrinsic conductivity. Hence, high-performance nanocomposites of Cu-MOF with conducting polymers like PANI (polyaniline) and PPy (polypyrrole) have been synthesized via an in situ hydrothermal technique. PANI and PPy not only improve the conductivity of the nanocomposite but also create additional MOF-PANI-MOF transport channels, which ensures effective electrolyte ion transportation and hence enhances the overall electrochemical performance. Cu-MOF/PANI and Cu-MOF/PPy nanocomposites exhibit high specific capacitances of 160.5 and 132.5 F/g, respectively, at a current density of 0.5 A/g, which is more than that of pristine Cu-MOF (104.8 F/g). Furthermore, asymmetric hybrid supercapacitor devices (Cu-MOF//Cu-MOF/PANI and Cu-MOF//Cu-MOF/PPy) have been assembled that have shown immense potential as energy storage devices. The Cu-MOF//Cu-MOF/PANI hybrid device delivered a high energy density of 51.4 Wh/kg at 474 W/kg power density with outstanding cyclic stability, attenuating only 6.6% after 10 000 charge–discharge cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercapacitors (SCs) based on hierarchical nanoporous framework composite materials and aqueous electrolytes are recent interests for the researchers. The structure of UiO-66 exhibits extraordinary stability and high specific surface area, but the specific capacitance of UiO-66 (139.4 F g–1 at 2 A g–1) is limited due to its moderately conducting nature. Therefore, we report a method to modify UiO-66 with pineapple peel derived activated carbon (PA-AC) to form a facile composite. Owing to the high specific surface area and good conductivity of the UiO-66/PA-AC composite, a high specific capacitance of 295.9 F g–1 at 2 A g–1 has been achieved and is well suited for supercapacitor applications. At the maximum charging voltage range of 0–1.8 V, the UiO-66/PA-AC//UiO-66/PA-AC symmetrical SC delivered a maximum energy density of 29.6 Wh kg–1 at a power density of 170 W kg–1. After 5000 repeated charge–discharge cycles at 30 A g–1, the specific capacitance of the device increased from 100% to 120% of its initial specific capacitance. This study emphasized the potential importance of incorporating MOFs into pores of biowaste derived carbon as a strategy for enhancing the charge storage kinetics of moderately conducting MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of a highly porous composite of ZIF-67 and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using a simple stirring approach is reported. The composite has been investigated as an electrode to be assembled in a supercapacitor. In the presence of an optimized redox additive electrolyte (RAE), that is, 0.2 M K 3 [Fe(CN) 6 ] in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 , the ZIF-67/rGO composite electrode has combined the properties of improved conductivity, high specific surface area, and low resistance. The proposed composite electrode in the three-electrode system shows an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 1453 F g -1 at a current density of 4.5 A g -1 within a potential window of -0.1 to 0.5 V. Further, the ZIF-67/rGO composite electrode was used to fabricate a symmetrical supercapacitor whose operation in the presence of the RAE has delivered high values of specific capacitance (326 F g -1 at a current density of 3 A g -1 ) and energy density (25.5 W h kg -1 at a power density of 2.7 kW kg -1 ). The device could retain about 88% of its initial specific capacitance after 1000 repeated charge-discharge cycles. The practical usefulness of the device was also verified by combining two symmetrical supercapacitors in series and then lighting a white light-emitting diode (illumination for 3 min). This study, for the first time, reports the application of a ZIF-based composite (ZIF-67/rGO) in the presence of an RAE to design an efficient supercapacitor electrode. This proposed design is also scalable to a flexible symmetric device delivering high values of specific capacitance and energy density., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.