Electrically conductive coordination polymers (generally known as metal− organic frameworks, MOFs) are a class of crystalline hybrid materials produced by the reasonable self-assembly of metal nodes and organic linkers. The unique and intriguing combination of inorganic and organic components endows coordination polymers with superior optical and electrical properties, which have recently aroused much attention in several electronic and optoelectronic technological applications. However, there are many challenging obstacles and issues that need to be addressed in this burgeoning field. In this Perspective, we first provide a fundamental understanding about the electronic design strategies that provide better guidance for realizing high conductivities and good mobilities in coordination polymers. We then examine the current established synthetic approaches to construct high-quality working samples of electrically conductive coordination polymers for device integration. This is followed by a discussion of the current state-of-the-art progress toward the preliminary achievements in (opto)electronic devices spanning chemiresistive sensors, field-effect transistors, organic photovoltaics, photodetectors, etc. Finally, we conclude this Perspective with the existing hurdles and limitations in this area, along with the critical directions and opportunities for future research.
Nitrogen-doped microporous carbon spheres (NMCSs) are successfully prepared via carbonization and KOH activation of phenol-formaldehyde resin polymer spheres synthesized by a facile and time-saving one-step hydrothermal strategy using triblock copolymer Pluronic F108 as a soft template under the Stöber-like method condition. The influence of the ethanol/water volume ratios and carbonation temperatures on the morphologies, pore structures and electrochemical performances of the prepared NMCSs are investigated systematically. The optimal NMCSs have a large specific surface area of 1517 m2 g− 1 with a pore volume of 0.8 cm3 g− 1. The X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy analysis reveals a suitable nitrogen-doped content of 2.6 at.%. The as-prepared NMCSs used as supercapacitor electrode materials exhibit an outstanding specific capacitance of 416 F g− 1 at a current density of 0.2 A g− 1, also it shows an excellent charge/discharge cycling stability with 96.9% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. The constructed symmetric supercapacitors using PVA/KOH as the gel electrolyte can deliver a specific capacitance of 60.6 F g− 1 at current density of 1 A g− 1. A maximum energy density of 21.5 Wh kg− 1 can be achieved at a power density of 800 W kg− 1, and the energy density still maintains 13.3 Wh kg− 1 even at a high power density of 16 kW kg− 1. The results suggest that this work can open up a facile and effective way to synthesize the NMCSs for electrode materials of high performance energy storage devices.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s11671-018-2713-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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