Electrodeposited manganese dioxide nanostructures on electro-etched carbon fibers: High performance materials for supercapacitor applications

•We report a facile method for fabrication of MnO2 nanostructures on electro-etched carbon fiber.•MnO2-ECF electrode shows outstanding supercapacitive behavior even at high discharge rates.•Exceptional cycle stability was achieved for MnO2-ECF electrode.•The coulombic efficiency of MnO2-ECF electrode is nearly 100%.

In this article we introduce a facile, low cost and additive/template free method to fabricate high-rate electrochemical capacitors. Manganese oxide nanostructures were electrodeposited on electro-etched carbon fiber substrate by applying a constant anodic current. Nanostructured MnO2 on electro-etched carbon fiber was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The electrochemical behavior of MnO2 electro-etched carbon fiber electrode was investigated by electrochemical techniques including cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge/discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. A maximum specific capacitance of 728.5 F g−1 was achieved at a scan rate of 5 mV s−1 for MnO2 electro-etched carbon fiber electrode. Also, this electrode showed exceptional cycle stability, suggesting that it can be considered as a good candidate for supercapacitor electrodes.

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