Folic acid-assisted in situ solvothermal synthesis of Ni-MOF/MXene composite for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

The synthesis of Ni-based metal-organic framework (MOF) and Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets is achieved via a straightforward solvothermal method, resulting in the formation of Ni-MOF/MXene composite material. This study introduces an innovative strategy that employs the biomolecule folic acid for the solvothermal synthesis of Ni-MOF/MXene nanosheets, intending to achieve high-performance supercapacitors. This approach effectively prevents the oxidation and restacking of MXene nanosheets and ensures the uniform dispersion of Ni-MOF on the surface of MXene nanosheets. The Ni-MOF/MXene composite exhibits an outstanding specific capacitance of 716.19 F/g at 1 A/g current density. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor device was assembled using activated carbon and Ni-MOF/MXene composite as negative and positive electrodes, respectively. The asymmetric device exhibited an impressive energy density of 23.28 Wh/kg at a power density of 2.841 KW/kg, along with good cyclic stability. These results establish an excellent potential of the Ni-MOF/MXene composite material as a candidate for next-generation energy devices.