A novel three-dimensional manganese dioxide electrode for high performance supercapacitors

Development of MnO2 based electrode materials for supercapacitor application with high comprehensive electrochemical performance, such as high capacitance, superior reversibility, excellent stability, and good rate capability, is still a tremendous challenge. In this work, a distinctive interwoven three-dimensional (3D) structure electrode with ultra-thin 2D graphene nanosheet decorated on the surface of 1D C/TiC nanowire array is built as the support to immobilize MnO2 nanoflakes (MnO2-Graphene nanosheet-C/TiC nanowire array, denoted as MGCT). Compared with the normal 1D core/shell structure, this novel 3D architecture can dramatically not only increase the surface area for MnO2 loading but also facilitate the ion and electron transfer. The electrochemical performance of the as-prepared 3D MnO2 electrode is evaluated by cyclic voltammetrys, galvanostatic charging-discharging tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, high specific capacitance (856 F g(-1) at 2 A g(-1)), good rate capability (69.1% capacitance retention at 40 A g(-1) vs 2 A g(-1)), superior reversibility, and cycling stability (85.7% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g(-1)) are obtained, suggesting that this novel structure can offer a new and appropriate idea for obtaining high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.