Synthesis of MnO2/N-doped ultramicroporous carbon nanospheres for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple and highly efficient strategy to synthesize MnO2/nitrogen-doped ultramicroporous carbon nanospheres (MnO2/N-UCNs) for supercapacitor application. MnO2/N-UCNs were fabricated via a template-free polymerization of resorcinol/formaldehyde on the surface of phloroglucinol/terephthalaldehyde colloids in the presence of hexamethylenetetramine, followed by carbonization and then a redox reaction between carbons and KMnO4. As-prepared MnO2/N-UCNs exhibits regular ultramicropores, high surface area, nitrogen heteroatom, and high content of MnO2. A typical MnO2/N-UCNs with 57wt.% MnO2 doping content (denoted as MnO2(57%)/N-UCNs) makes the most use of the synergistic effect between carbons and metal oxides. MnO2(57%)/N-UCNs as a supercapacitor electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance such as a high specific capacitance (401F/g at 1.0A/g) and excellent charge/discharge stability (86.3% of the initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles at 2.0A/g) in 1.0mol/L Na2SO4 electrolyte. The well-designed and high-performance MnO2/N-UCNs highlight the great potential for advanced supercapacitor applications.