Gradient Morphologies in Electrodeposited Manganese Dioixde and Their Effect on Electrochemical Performance

Abstract

In this study, the use of current and potential control techniques in production of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) has led to insight into the behaviour of different morphologies of manganese dioxide for a number of chemical storage systems. Further, improvements on industrial milling have been considered. Manganese dioxide has an advantage of existing in a variety of phases, and it has been found that current density greatly influences crystal structure along with deposit densities. Through the manipulation of this factor during the depositing of EMD a variety of morphologically different deposits can be obtained, linking to advantages for a number of industrial applications. Techniques such as chronopotentiometry and chronoamperometry have allowed for insight into the application of step potential ramps, multilayer depositions, and the manipulation of pulse sequences in a series of EMD deposits to be morphologically investigated through techniques such as scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) along with electrochemical performance testing. The objective of this study has been to provide a real world application, and superior performance essentially allowing for an alternative to bulk depositing. The study has considered specialised purposes such as industrial milling i.e. improving fracturing capabilities along with battery/capacitor applications with these deposits aiming to highlight the importance of improved electrolyte transport with regard to cathode interaction.