Preparation and electrochemical properties of lamellar MnO2 for supercapacitors

Lamellar birnessite-type MnO{sub 2} materials were prepared by changing the pH of the initial reaction system via hydrothermal synthesis. The interlayer spacing of MnO{sub 2} with a layered structure increased gradually when the initial pH value varied from 12.43 to 2.81, while the MnO{sub 2}, composed of {alpha}-MnO{sub 2} and {gamma}-MnO{sub 2}, had a rod-like structure at pH 0.63. Electrochemical studies indicated that the specific capacitance of birnessite-type MnO{sub 2} was much higher than that of rod-like MnO{sub 2} at high discharge current densities due to the lamellar structure with fast intercalation/deintercalation of protons and high utilization of MnO{sub 2}. The initial specific capacitance of MnO{sub 2} prepared at pH 2.81 was 242.1 F g{sup -1} at 2 mA cm{sup -2} in 2 mol L{sup -1} (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4} aqueous electrolyte. The capacitance increased by about 8.1% of initial capacitance after 200 cycles at a current density of 100 mA cm{sup -2}.