Nanowire Na0.35MnO2 from a hydrothermal method as a cathode material for aqueous asymmetric supercapacitors

• Nanowire Na0.35MnO2 was prepared by a hydrothermal method at low temperature: 205 °C.
• Its electrochemical performance as cathode for aqueous asymmetric supercapacitors was studied.
• Its specific capacitance is (157 F g−1) is much higher than that (92 F g−1) of rod-like Na0.95MnO2 from solid phase reaction.
• The energy density based on AC and nanowire Na0.35MnO2 is 42.6 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 129.8 W kg−1.
• The device presents excellent cycling performance even when dissolved oxygen is not removed.

Nanowire Na0.35MnO2 was prepared by a simple and low energy consumption hydrothermal method; its electrochemical performance as a cathode material for aqueous asymmetric supercapacitors in Na2SO4 solution was investigated. Due to the nanowire structure its capacitance (157 F g−1) is much higher than that of the rod-like Na0.95MnO2 (92 F g−1) from solid phase reaction although its sodium content is lower. When it is assembled into an asymmetric aqueous supercapacitor using activated carbon as the counter electrode and aqueous 0.5 mol L−1 Na2SO4 electrolyte solution, the nanowire Na0.35MnO2 shows an energy density of 42.6 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 129.8 W kg−1 based on the total weight of the two electrode material, higher than those for the rod-like Na0.95MnO2, with an energy density of 27.3 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 74.8 W kg−1, and that of LiMn2O4. The new material presents excellent cycling behavior even when dissolved oxygen is not removed from the electrolyte solution. The results hold great promise for practical applications of this cathode material since sodium is much cheaper than lithium and its natural resources are rich.