Hollow Mesoporous Carbon Nanocubes: Rigid-Interface-Induced Outward Contraction of Metal-Organic Frameworks

Novel carbon materials derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted much attention, but the commonly inevitable inward contraction during the carbonization process has restricted their structural variety and applications. In this work, a novel rigid-interface induced outward contraction approach is reported for synthesizing hollow mesoporous carbon nanocubes (HMCNCs) by using ZIF-8 nanocubes as precursors. HMCNCs exhibit a cubic morphology with the particle sizes slightly larger than ZIF-8 nanocubes. Due to the unique outward contraction process, uniform carbon nanocubes with a hollow cavity, an outer microporous shell, and an inner mesoporous wall are simultaneously formed with a large pore size (25 nm), high surface area (1085.7 m² g⁻¹), high porosity (3.77 cm³ g⁻¹), and high nitrogen content (12.2%). When used as a cathode material for Li–SeS₂ batteries, the HMCNCs deliver a stable capacity of 812.6 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.2 A g⁻¹ after 100 cycles and an outstanding rate capability (455.1 mA h g⁻¹ at 5.0 A g⁻¹). The findings may pave the way for the construction of distinctive MOF-derived carbon materials for various applications.