A Gas-Steamed MOF Route to P-Doped Open Carbon Cages with Enhanced Zn-Ion Energy Storage Capability and Ultrastability

Carbon micro/nanocages have received great attention, especially in electrochemical energy-storage systems. Herein, as a proof-of-concept, a solid-state gas-steamed metal–organic-framework approach is designed to fabricate carbon cages with controlled openings on walls, and N, P dopants. Taking advantage of the fabricated carbon cages with large openings on their walls for enhanced kinetics of mass transport and N, P dopants within the carbon matrix for favoring chemical adsorption of Zn ions, when used as carbon cathodes for advanced aqueous Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs), such open carbon cages (OCCs) display a wide operation voltage of 2.0 V and an enhanced capacity of 225 mAh g at 0.1 A g. Also, they exhibit an ultralong cycling lifespan of up to 300 000 cycles with 96.5% capacity retention. Particularly, such OCCs as electrode materials lead to a soft-pack ZHSC device, delivering a high energy density of 97 Wh kg and a superb power density of 6.5 kW kg. Further, the device can operate in a wide temperature range from −25 to + 40 °C, covering the temperatures for practical applications in daily life.