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been replaced by waste-derived activated carbons (WDACs) as they are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.