Manganese Oxide Nanowires Grown on Ordered Macroporous Conductive Nickel Scaffold for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Macroporous alpha-MnO(2) electrodes composed of nanowires were prepared by electrophoresis and electrodeposition with the help of monodispersed polystyrene spheres. The effects of macropore and conductive scaffold on the pseudocapacitive behavior of the MnO(2) nanowire electrodes were investigated by cyclic voltammogram (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge tests in 1 M Na(2)SO(4) electrolyte. Due to a better ion transport in macropores, the specific capacitance of macroporous MnO(2) electrode (282 F g I) was higher than that of bare MnO(2) electrode (181 F g(-1)) at a scan rate of 10 mV s(-1) Macroporous conductive nickel scaffold could further increase the active surface area and the utilization of MnO(2) nanowire electrode due to the fast ion and electron transport in the macroporous MnO(2) electrode Hence, the specific capacitance of MnO(2) electrode-with nanowires grown on the macroporous conductive scaffold could reach as high as 472 F g(-1) at a scan rate of 10mVs(-1).