Ultrasound-assisted facile one-pot synthesis of ternary MWCNT/MnO2/rGO nanocomposite for high performance supercapacitors with commercial-level mass loadings
Bhaskar J. Choudhury, Vijayanand S. Moholkar
Abstract
Commercial application of supercapacitors (SCs) requires high mass loading electrodes simultaneously with high energy density and long cycle life. Herein, we have reported a ternary multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/MnO2/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite for SCs with commercial-level mass loadings. The ternary nanocomposite was synthesized using a facile ultrasound-assisted one-pot method. The symmetric SC fabricated with ternary MWCNT/MnO2/rGO nanocomposite demonstrated marked enhancement in capacitive performance as compared to those with binary nanocomposites (MnO2/rGO and MnO2/MWCNT). The synergistic effect from simultaneous growth of MnO2 on the graphene and MWCNTs under ultrasonic irradiation resulted in the formation of a porous ternary structure with efficient ion diffusion channels and high electrochemically active surface area. The symmetric SC with commercial-level mass loading electrodes (∼12 mg cm−2) offered a high specific capacitance (314.6 F g−1) and energy density (21.1 W h kg−1 at 150 W kg−1) at a wide operating voltage of 1.5 V. Moreover, the SC exhibits no loss of capacitance after 5000 charge−discharge cycles showcasing excellent cycle life.