In-situ growth of electrically conductive MOFs in wood cellulose scaffold for flexible, robust and hydrophobic membranes with improved electrochemical performance

Electrically conductive metal-organic frameworks (EC-MOFs) have attracted great attentions in electrochemical fields, but their practical application is limited by their hard-to-shape powder form. The aims was to integrate continuously nucleated EC-MOFs on natural wood cellulose scaffold to develop biobased EC-MOFs membrane with robust flexibility and improved electrochemical performance for wearable supercapacitors. EC-MOF materials (NiCAT or CuCAT) were successfully incorporated onto porous tempo-oxidized wood (TOW) scaffold to create ultrathin membranes through electrostatic force-mediated interfacial growth and simple room-temperature densification. The studies demonstrated the uniform and continuous EC-MOFs nanolayer on TOW scaffold and the interfacial bonding between EC-MOF and TOW. The densification of EC-MOF@TOW bulk yielded highly flexible ultrathin membranes (about 0.3 mm) with high tensile stress exceeding 180 MPa. Moreover, the 50 %-NiCAT@TOW membrane demonstrated high electrical conductivity (4.227 S·m−1) and hydrophobicity (contact angle exceeding 130°). Notably, these properties remained stable even after twisting or bending deformation. Furthermore, the electrochemical performance of EC-MOF@TOW membrane with hierarchical pores outperformed the EC-MOF powder electrode. This study innovatively anchored EC-MOFs onto wood through facile process, yielding highly flexible membranes with exceptional performance that outperforms most of reported conductive wood-based membranes. These findings would provide some references for flexible and functional EC-MOF/wood membranes for wearable devices.