A novel method to prepare nanostructured manganese dioxide and its electrochemical properties as a supercapacitor electrode

Nanostructured MnO2 was synthesized by co-precipitation in the presence of Pluronic P123 surfactant and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The sample without surfactant was spherical with particle size on the submicron scale, whereas P123-assisted samples were all loose clew shapes, consisting of MnO2 nanowires, 8–20 nm in diameter and 200–400 nm in length. The electrochemical performances of the as-prepared MnO2 as the electrode materials for supercapacitors were evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge measurements in a solution of 1 M Na2SO4. The sample without surfactant exhibited a relatively low specific capacitance of 77 F g−1, whereas the nanostructured MnO2 prepared with 0.02% (wt%) P123 exhibited excellent pseudocapacitive behavior, with a maximum specific capacitance of 176 F g−1.