MnO2 nanoflowers loaded on three-dimensional interconnected bacterial cellulose-derived honeycomb-like carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

Abstract

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been considered to be an ideal substrate for electrode materials due to its characteristics of natural abundance and wide range of sources. Controlling the microscopic morphology of electrode materials can enhance the capacity of BC materials effectively. However, most of the remaining BC derived carbon exhibit morphology of fibers, and the effective method for porous morphology need further studies, let alone the electrochemical properties of the materials used as electrode active material. Here, we prepared 3D interconnected mesoporous honeycomb-like carbon by pyrolysis of purified bacterial cellulose (3DIHBC). Then MnO2 with flower-like morphology was then grown on the 3D carbon with a simple hydrothermal method. The prepared 3DIHBC/MnO2 electrode delivers a reversible specific capacitance of 170F g−1 at 1 A g−1, and also retains 76% impressive long-term cycling stability after 5000 cycles at 10 A g−1 in an aqueous electrolyte. This is a highly cost-effective method for the preparation of 3DIHBC/MnO2 composites, and the rational use of cheap biomass carbon can improve the drawback of poor cyclic stability of metal oxides, which is important for environmental protection and mass-producible energy storage.