Extraordinary cycling stability of pristine nickel hexaaminobenzene MOF supercapacitors

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a newly emerging class of materials that have received enormous attention because of their unique features such as high surface area, rich microporosity, and tunable pores size. MOFs are very promising electrode materials for supercapacitors; however, the application of MOFs as supercapacitors electrodes has been hindered by their conventionally poor conductivity. To improve their conductivity, MOFs have been mixed with different conductive additives and binders. Very few pristine MOFs have been explored as electrodes materials for energy storage devices. Herein, we report for the first time the fabrication of pristine nickel hexaaminobenzene (Ni₃(HAB)₂) supercapacitors electrodes via electrophoretic deposition. The obtained MOF supercapacitor delivered an outstanding areal capacitance of 13.65 mF cm^-2 and an exceptional ultra-high cycling stability with a retention of about 81.2% after 50,000 cycles. Moreover, the Ni₃(HAB)₂ supercapacitors exhibited an excellent areal energy density of 920 μWh cm^-2 at an areal power density of 130 mW cm^-2.