Waste Paper-Derived Porous Carbon Incorporated with Mesoporous ZIF‑8 Crystals for Symmetrical Supercapacitors

Activated carbon (AC) is a low-cost porous material with high conductivity and a specific surface area. Recently, commercially available AC has been replaced by waste-derived activated carbons (WDACs) as they are renewable, cost-effective, and eco-friendly. The synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) embedded in the WDAC matrix as a composite electrode is carried out for energy storage applications. Briefly, the zinc-based zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-8) is combined with waste paper-derived activated carbon (PAC-800) and used to fabricate a solid-state symmetrical supercapacitor that delivered an energy density of 37.1 Wh kg^–1 at a power density of 880.1 W kg^–1. Compared to pristine materials (ZIF-8 and PAC-800 alone), the electrochemical performance of the PAC-800/ZIF-8 composite electrode is greatly enhanced due to the mesoporous nature of ZIF-8.