Realizing an Asymmetric Supercapacitor Employing Carbon Nanotubes Anchored to Mn3O4 Cathode and Fe3O4 Anode.

Abstract

A facile route to anchor pseudocapacitive materials on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to realize high-performance electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) is reported. The anchoring process is developed after direct decomposition of metal-hexacyanoferrate complex on the CNT surface. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis reveals that the nanoparticles (NPs) are discretely attached over the CNT surface without forming a uniform layer, thus making most of the entire NP surface available for electrochemical reactions. Accordingly, CNT-Mn3O4 nanocomposite cathode shows significantly improved capacitive performance as compared to pristine CNT electrode, validating the efficacy of designing the composite electrode. With CNT-Fe3O4 nanocomposite as the paired anode, the hybrid ASC delivers a specific capacitance of 135.2 F/g at a scan rate of 10 mV/s within a potential window of 0-1.8 V in the aqueous electrolyte and retains almost 100% of its initial capacitance after 15,000 cycles. The serially connected ASCs can power commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and mobile phones, reflecting their potential in next-generation storage applications.