Hierarchical mesoporous Co3O4/C@MoS2 core-shell structured materials for electrochemical energy storage with high supercapacitive performance

•Co3O4/C@MoS2 core-shell materials are prepared and used as supercapacitor electrodes.•ZIF-67 is used as the sacrificial templates and the precursors for Co3O4/C.•Co3O4/C@MoS2 shows excellent capacitive performances and cyclic stability.•This work opens a window to design MOF-based materials used in energy storage system.

Hierarchical mesoporous Co3O4/C@MoS2 core-shell structured materials are synthesized via a two-step calcination and a solvothermal method using cobalt metal-organic frameworks (cobalt-MOFs, ZIF-67) and (NH4)2MoS4 as the precursors of Co3O4/C and MoS2, respectively, which is a new class of core-shell materials as supercapacitor electrode materials. The obtained Co3O4/C@MoS2 exhibits high specific capacitance (1076 F g−1 at 1 A g−1), rate capability (76.9% capacitance retention at 10 A g−1) and cyclic stability (64.5% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 10 A g−1). Moreover, the content of MoS2 greatly influences the electrochemical performances of the obtained core-shell materials. The results demonstrate that the as-synthesized ZIF-67 can be used as a promising candidate for designing Co3O4 based core-shell materials used in supercapacitors.

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