MOF-derived multifractal porous carbon with ultrahigh lithium-ion storage performance

Porous carbon is one of the most promising alternatives to traditional graphite materials in lithium-ion batteries. This is not only attributed to its advantages of good safety, stability and electrical conductivity, which are held by all the carbon-based electrodes, but also especially ascribed to its relatively high capacity and excellent cycle stability. Here we report the design and synthesis of a highly porous pure carbon material with multifractal structures. This material is prepared by the vacuum carbonization of a zinc-based metal-organic framework, which demonstrates an ultrahigh lithium storage capacity of 2458 mAh g(−1) and a favorable high-rate performance. The associations between the structural features and the lithium storage mechanism are also revealed by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), especially the closed pore effects on lithium-ion storage.