Preparation and characterization of nanostructured NiO/MnO2 composite electrode for electrochemical supercapacitors

Nanostructured nickel-manganese oxides composite was prepared by the sol-gel and the chemistry deposition combination new route. The surface morphology and structure of the composite were characterized by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction. The as-synthesized NiO/MnO{sub 2} samples exhibit higher surface area of 130-190 m{sup 2} g{sup -1}. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements were applied to investigate the electrochemical performance of the composite electrodes with different ratios of NiO/MnO{sub 2}. When the mass ratio of MnO{sub 2} and NiO in composite material is 80:20, the specific capacitance value of NiO/MnO{sub 2} calculated from the cyclic voltammetry curves is 453 F g{sup -1}, for pure NiO and MnO{sub 2} are 209, 330 F g{sup -1} in 6 mol L{sup -1} KOH electrolyte and at scan rate of 10 mV s{sup -1}, respectively. The specific capacitance of NiO/MnO{sub 2} electrode is much larger than that of each pristine component. Moreover, the composite electrodes showed high power density and stable electrochemical properties.