N-Doped Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Facilitates High-Performance Zinc-Ion Hybrid Supercapacitors

In recent years, zinc-ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) have garnered significant interest owing to their advantages, including eco-friendliness, affordability, inherent safety, and straightforward assembly under ambient conditions. These devices integrate a capacitor-type electrode with a battery-type electrode, effectively merging the superior power output and extended cycle life of supercapacitors with the high energy storage capacity characteristic of zinc-ion batteries. Nevertheless, the limited availability of active sites for Zn2+ storage in carbon-based cathodes, coupled with poorly optimized pore structures that hinder ion transport, results in suboptimal electrochemical performance. Here, we propose a ZnCu-MOF derived N-doped ordered mesoporous carbon materials (ZnCu-MC). N-doping strategy could improve the hydrophilicity of the electrode materials, reducing interfacial contact resistance, while the porous structure enabled rapid Zn2+ migration, critical for ultra-high rate performance. Therefore, Zn//ZnCu-MC full cell realized high specific capacity of 170 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 and 92% capacity retention after 65000 cycles. This work not only provides a promising strategy to improve the Zn2+ storage capability of carbonaceous materials but also sheds lights on charge-storage mechanism and advanced electrode materials’ design for ZIHCs toward practical applications.