Boosting electrochemical performance of barium-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid and aniline-derived polybenzoxazole composite (Ba-BTC/pBOA) as battery grade electrode material for hybrid supercapacitors

Abstract

Energy storage devices are crucial for long-term viability and adaptation in dynamic electricity grid of modern world. Hybrid supercapacitors can bridge the gap between batteries and supercapacitors, potentially changing energy storage paradigms. In this domain, Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are recognized as promising electrode materials for energy storage applications. However inferior conductivity restricts their practical employment. Within this perspective, we fabricated a novel barium-1,3,5 benzene tricarboxylic acid and aniline-derived polybenzoxazole (Ba-BTC/pBOA) electrode material for a hybrid supercapacitor. Initial characterization, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were utilized to explore the crystal structure, surface morphology, and elemental composition, respectively. The material provided an excellent specific capacity of 590.23 at 0.6 A/g in a half-cell setup by using 1 M KOH aqueous solution. Furthermore, a hybrid device is assembled (Ba-BTC/pBOA//AC) revealing the energy (E_s) and power densities (P_s) of 94.32 Wh/kg and 10,200 W/kg, respectively. Moreover, two different semi-empirical models were compared and analyzed to get the most approximate capacitive and diffusive contribution of the device. Overall, the material demonstrates more stability and dominance in the faradaic process, which paves the path for improved performance.