Facile Synthesis and Electrochemical Studies of Mn2O3/Graphene Composite as an Electrode Material for Supercapacitor Application
Ghulam Mustafa, Gohar Mehboob, Said Nasir Khisro, Muhammad Sufyan Javed, Xinman Chen, Muhammad Shafiq Ahmed, J.M. Ashfaq, Ghulam Asghar, Shahnwaz Hussain, Amin ur Rashid, Ghazanfar Mehboob
Abstract
A simplified sol-gel method that can be scaled up for large-scale production was adopted for the preparation of manganese oxide nanocrystals. Prepared Mn 2 O 3 exhibited micron-sized particles with a nanoporous structure. In the present study, a simple and low-cost strategy has been employed to fabricate nanoporous Mn 2 O 3 with an increased surface area for an electrode/electrolyte interface that improved the conduction of Mn 2 O 3 material. The crystal phase and morphology of the prepared material was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The prepared electrode materials were deposited on a nickel foam substrate to investigate the electrochemical properties. The galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and complex impedance studies confirmed excellent specific capacitance and capacitive behavior of the prepared material. The synthesized Mn 2 O 3 /graphene composites exhibited an excellent specific capacitance of 391 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/S. Moreover, a specific capacitance of 369 F/g was recorded at a current density of 0.5 A/g using the galvanostatic charge/discharge test. The high porosity of the materials provided a better electrolyte-electrode interface with a larger specific area, thus suggesting its suitability for energy storage applications.