MnO2 nanosilks self-assembled micropowders: Facile one-step hydrothermal synthesis and their application as supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

Novel MnO2 nanosilks self-assembled micropowders have been prepared by a simple one-step hydrothermal synthesis method. The structure and morphology of the MnO2 are investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The capacitive properties of the MnO2 are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and constant current charge–discharge. The SEM results showed that the MnO2 micropowders are assembled by numerous one-dimensional MnO2 nanosilks. These MnO2 nanosilks are found to be 30–50nm in diameter and characteristic length up to 2μm. When evaluated for supercapacitor electrode, a desirable specific capacitance of 135F/g for the single MnO2 electrode is obtained at current density of 0.15A/g in 1M Na2SO4 aqueous solution.