Effect of Electrolytic Cations on a 3D Cd-MOF for Supercapacitive Electrodes

A cadmium-based metal-organic framework (Cd-MOF) is synthesized in a facile manner at ambient temperature by an easy slow diffusion process. The three-dimensional (3D) structure of Cd-MOF is authenticated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies and exhibits a cuboid-shaped morphology with an average edge length of ∼1.13 μm. The prepared Cd-MOF was found to be electroactive in nature, which resulted in a specific capacitance of 647 F g^-1 at 4 A g^-1 by maintaining a retention of ∼78% over 10,000 successive cycles in the absence of any binder. Further, to distinguish the efficiency of Cd-MOF electrodes, different electrolytes (NaOH, KOH, and LiOH) were explored, wherein NaOH revealed a higher capacitive response due to its combined effect of ionic and hydrated ionic radii. To investigate the practical applicability, an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device is fabricated by employing Cd-MOF as the positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as the negative electrode, enabling it to light a commercial light-emitting diode (LED) bulb (∼1.8 V). The as-fabricated ASC device delivers comparable energy density and power density.