Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon materials have been widely investigated as advanced electrode materials. However, post-synthetic modifications suffer from certain limitations in morphology, surface area, and pore size control. Herein, we report a simple strategy to synthesize surface-confined Zirconium(Zr)-based MOF UiO-66-NH2 carbon hybrids (Zr-MOF@C; denoted as pristine Zr-MOF, Zr-MOF@C25, and Zr-MOF@C50) through a covalent assembly/amide linkage between the MOF and mixed bio-mass-derived hierarchical porous carbon in various proportions under solvothermal conditions. Zr-MOF@C hybrids have been utilized as high-performance anode materials for lithium- (LIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (KIBs). When used as LIB anodes, the Zr-MOF@C25 and Zr-MOF@C50 anodes delivered discharge capacities of 65 and 93 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1 after 100 cycles, respectively. When used as a KIB anode, the Zr-MOF@C25 anode exhibited a high capacity of 70 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1 over 100 cycles. The Zr-MOF@C50 anode exhibited an outstanding rate capability with a reversible capacity of 178 mA h g–1 for Li+/Li, whereas the Zr-MOF@C25 anode delivered a reversible capacity of ~151 mA h g–1 vs. K+/K with well-maintained long-term cyclic stabilities of ~140 mA h g–1 (Zr-MOF@C50 vs. Li+/Li) and ~151 mA h g–1 (Zr-MOF@C25 vs. K+/K) at 1 A g–1 over 1000 cycles. Charge contribution ratio calculations revealed that the high Li+ and K+ storage efficiencies were dominated by a surface-charge capacitive effect and diffusion-driven charge storage mechanism, respectively. These findings provide new insights for designing high-performance surface-confined MOF-based carbon composite materials for next-generation high-energy storage devices.
The present work demonstrates an efficient and cost effective methodology for the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles without the assistance of any capping agent. Two different forms of iron oxide nanoparticles, namely, goethite (α-FeOOH) and magnetite (Fe3O4) were synthesized and characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The XRD spectra were found concordant with JCPDS-ICDD data. The crystallite sizes for goethite and magnetite were found to be 9.85 and 14.13 nm, respectively. The mean particle sizes estimated via SEM analysis were 32.23 and 63.27 nm, respectively. Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy was used to estimate the elemental composition of the synthesized nanoparticles (NPs). The NPs were further used for the degradation of anthracene in the presence of UV light. The decay profiles of anthracene,a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon listed as a priority pollutant by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), were investigated with different forms of iron oxides NPs under UV irradiation at ambient temperature. Both forms of iron oxides were efficient for the photodegradation of anthracene. The decay profiles in both the cases followed the first-order kinetics. The half-lives for anthracene degradation were 3.21 and 4.39 h with α-FeOOH and Fe3O4, respectively. The results reveal that the photocatalytic activity of magnetite is low as compared to goethite.