Construction of Hierarchical α-MnO2 Nanowires@Ultrathin δ-MnO2 Nanosheets Core-Shell Nanostructure with Excellent Cycling Stability for High-Power Asymmetric Supercapacitor Electrodes

Poor electrical conductivity and mechanical instability are two major obstacles to realizing high performance of MnO2 as pseudocapacitor material. The construction of unique hierarchical core-shell nanostructures, therefore, plays an important role in the efficient enhancement of the rate capacity and the stability of this material. We herein report the fabrication of a hierarchical alpha-MnO2 nanowires@ultrathin delta-MnO2 nanosheets core-shell nanostructure by adopting a facile and practical solution-phase technique. The novel hierarchical nanostructures are composed of ultrathin delta-MnO2 nanosheets with a few atomic layers growing well on the surface of the ultralong alpha-MnO2 nanowires. The first specific capacitance of hierarchical core-shell nanostructure reached 153.8 F g(-1) at the discharge current density of as high as 20 A g(-1), and the cycling stability is retained at 98.1% after 10 000 charge-discharge cycles, higher than those in the literature. The excellent rate capacity and stability of the hierarchical core-shell nanostructures can be attributed to the structural features of the two MnO2 crystals, in which a 1D alpha-MnO2 nanowire core provides a stable structural backbone and the ultrathin 2D delta-MnO2 nanosheet shell creates more reactive active sites. The synergistic effects of different dimensions also contribute to the superior rate capability.