A hierarchical nanostructure consisting of amorphous MnO2, Mn3O4 nanocrystallites, and single-crystalline MnOOH nanowires for supercapacitors

Abstract

In this communication, a porous hierarchical nanostructure consisting of amorphous MnO2 (a-MnO2), Mn3O4 nanocrystals, and single-crystalline MnOOH nanowires is designed for the supercapacitor application, which is prepared by a simple two-step electrochemical deposition process. Because of the gradual co-transformation of Mn3O4 nanocrystals and a-MnO2 nanorods into an amorphous manganese oxide, the cycle stability of a-MnO2 is obviously enhanced by adding Mn3O4. This unique ternary oxide nanocomposite with 100-cycle CV activation exhibits excellent capacitive performances, i.e., excellent reversibility, high specific capacitances (470 F g-1 in CaCl2), high power property, and outstanding cycle stability. The highly porous microstructures of this composite before and after the 10,000-cycle CV test are examined by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). © 2010 Elsevier B.V.