Soft templated mesoporous manganese oxide/carbon nanotube composites via interfacial surfactant assembly

Abstract

A mesoporous manganese oxide/carbon nanotube (CNT) composite was successfully synthesized using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a protection layer to prevent the direct contact between CNT and MnO₄⁻ ions, a linking agent to interact with MnO₄⁻ ions and a structure-directing agent for the formation of mesoporous oxide. The observed improvement in electrochemical utilization of MnO₂ was due to the synergetic effect of the mesoporous structure and CNTs, which enhanced the overall electronic and ionic conductivities.