MOF-derived flower-like ZnCo₂O₄/ZnO nanoarchitecture as a high-performance battery-type redox-active electrode material for hybrid supercapacitor applications

Implementing a facile and efficient strategy to fabricate the multi-component metal oxide nanocomposites as the high-efficient electroactive electrode materials have gathered the limelight for effective energy storage applications. However, the reasonable design and development of such materials is still a significant challenge to meet the energy storage capability. Herein, we report a bottom-up strategy to fabricate a flower-like ZnCo₂O₄/ZnO (ZCO/ZnO) nanoarchitecture via thermal decomposition of a metal-organic framework (MOF). The unique flower-like ZCO/ZnO nanoarchitecture provides a fruitful channel for rapid electron and ion transportation and offers abundant electroactive sites for the battery-type Faradaic charge storage process. Interestingly, the multi-component ZCO/ZnO electrode reveals a specific capacitance of (C_sp) of 803 F g⁻¹ at a specific current of 1 A g⁻¹ as compared to its counterparts (ZCO and ZnO). Even at a high specific current of 20 A g⁻¹, a superior C_sp of 538 F g⁻¹ can be achieved, signifying the high-rate performance of the ZCO/ZnO electrode. In addition, the hybrid supercapacitor of ZCO/ZnO//AC depicts the C_sp of 161 F g⁻¹ at a specific current of 1 A g⁻¹. It delivers a high specific energy of 50.41 Wh kg⁻¹ at a specific power of 710.49 W kg⁻¹, with excellent cyclic retention of around 91.04% over 10,000 cycles. Hence, this strategy could enlighten a pathway to fabricate promising electrode materials for high-performance electrochemical energy devices.