Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous α-MnO2 nanoparticles using SBA-15 hard template and P123 soft template and their pseudocapacitive performance

Mesoporous manganese oxide nanoparticles were prepared using SBA-15 hard silica template (SBA-MnO2) and were investigated as electrode material for electrochemical pseudocapacitors. Also, for comparison, mesoporous manganese oxide nanoparticles were prepared using pluronic P123 copolymer as a soft template (P123-MnO2). Structural and morphological characterizations of the prepared manganese oxide nanostructured materials were conducted using X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen absorption/desorption test, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). In addition, electrochemical investigations of the electrode materials were performed using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) examinations. The results showed that the SBA-MnO2 active material has a higher specific capacitance (1200 F g-1 in a current density of 1 A g-1) than the P123-MnO2 material (1200 F g-1 in a current density of 1 A g-1) due to its higher specific surface area and more porous structure. Therefore, the mesoporous SBA-MnO2 active material can be introduced as a potential electrode material for high-performance electrochemical capacitors.