AUTHOR=Mustafa Ghulam , Mehboob Gohar , Khisro Said Nasir , Javed Muhammad , Chen Xinman , Ahmed M. Shafiq , Ashfaq J. M. , Asghar G. , Hussain Shahnwaz , Rashid Amin ur , Mehboob Ghazanfar TITLE=Facile Synthesis and Electrochemical Studies of Mn2O3/Graphene Composite as an Electrode Material for Supercapacitor Application JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.717074 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.717074 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=

A simplified sol-gel method that can be scaled up for large-scale production was adopted for the preparation of manganese oxide nanocrystals. Prepared Mn2O3 exhibited micron-sized particles with a nanoporous structure. In the present study, a simple and low-cost strategy has been employed to fabricate nanoporous Mn2O3 with an increased surface area for an electrode/electrolyte interface that improved the conduction of Mn2O3 material. The crystal phase and morphology of the prepared material was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The prepared electrode materials were deposited on a nickel foam substrate to investigate the electrochemical properties. The galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and complex impedance studies confirmed excellent specific capacitance and capacitive behavior of the prepared material. The synthesized Mn2O3/graphene composites exhibited an excellent specific capacitance of 391 F/g at a scan rate of 5 mV/S. Moreover, a specific capacitance of 369 F/g was recorded at a current density of 0.5 A/g using the galvanostatic charge/discharge test. The high porosity of the materials provided a better electrolyte-electrode interface with a larger specific area, thus suggesting its suitability for energy storage applications.