Poor electrical conductivity and instability of metal–organic
frameworks (MOFs) have limited their energy storage and conversion
efficiency. In this work, we report the application of oxidatively
doped tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)-based MOFs for high-performance electrodes
in supercapatteries. Two isostructural MOFs, formulated as [M(py-TTF-py)(BPDC)]·2H2O (M = NiII (1), ZnII (2); py-TTF-py = 2,6-bis(4′-pyridyl)TTF; H2BPDC = biphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid), are crystallographically
characterized. The structural analyses show that the two MOFs possess
a three-dimensional 8-fold interpenetrating diamond-like topology,
which is the first example for TTF-based dual-ligand MOFs. Upon iodine
treatment, MOFs 1 and 2 are converted into
oxidatively doped 1-ox and 2-ox with high
crystallinity. The electrical conductivity of 1-ox and 2-ox is significantly increased by six∼seven orders
of magnitude. Benefiting from the unique structure and the pronounced
development of electrical conductivity, the specific capacities reach
833.2 and 828.3 C g–1 at a specific current of 1
A g–1 for 1-ox and 2-ox, respectively. When used as a battery-type positrode to assemble
a supercapattery, the AC∥1-ox and AC∥2-ox (AC = activated carbon) present an energy density of
90.3 and 83.0 Wh kg–1 at a power density of 1.18
kW kg–1 and great cycling stability with 82% of
original capacity and 92% columbic efficiency retention after 10,000
cycles. Ex situ characterization illustrates the ligand-dominated
mechanism in the charge/discharge processes. The excellent electrochemical
performances of 1-ox and 2-ox are rarely
reported for supercapatteries, illustrating that the construction
of unique highly dense and robust structures of MOFs followed by postsynthetic
oxidative doping is an effective approach to fabricate MOF-based electrode
materials.