A successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method to induce Mn3O4 nanospots on CNTs for supercapacitors

Abstract

We developed a mild and scalable, new approach in order to deposit Mn₃O₄ nanospots on the porous walls of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Here, a CNTs network provides fast electronic conducting channels and the coating of Mn₃O₄ provides high capacitance, which shows that these systems can create high-performance supercapacitor electrodes. Mn₃O₄–CNTs show a specific capacitance of 498 F g⁻¹ at 0.005 V s⁻¹ and with 90% of capacity retention after 2000 cycles. The Ragone plot shows that Mn₃O₄–CNT electrodes demonstrate relatively higher energy density than conventional capacitors and normal ultracapacitors, maintaining their power density considerably higher than the conventional batteries and fuel cells. In addition to this, the method used in the present work is promising for producing high performance area-limited electrochemical supercapacitors and provides a new route for uniformly decorating CNTs with active materials such as metal oxides, conducting polymers, etc.