Green Fabrication of Ultrathin Co3O4 Nanosheets from Metal–Organic Framework for Robust High-Rate Supercapacitors

Two-dimensional cobalt oxide (Co3O4) is a promising candidate for robust electrochemical capacitors with high performance. Herein, we use 2,3,5,6-tetramethyl-1,4-diisophthalate as a recyclable ligand to construct a Co-based metal–organic framework of UPC-9, and subsequently, we obtain ultrathin hierarchical Co3O4 hexagonal nanosheets with a thickness of 3.5 nm through a hydrolysis and calcination process. A remarkable and excellent specific capacitance of 1121 F·g–1 at a current density of 1 A·g–1 and 873 F·g–1 at a current density of 25 A·g–1 were achieved for the as-prepared asymmetric supercapacitor, which can be attributed to the ultrathin 2D morphology and the rich macroporous and mesoporous structures of the ultrathin Co3O4 nanosheets. This synthesis strategy is environmentally benign and economically viable due to the fact that the costly organic ligand molecules are recycled, reducing the materials cost as well as the environmental cost for the synthesis process.