Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol.316, 928-935, 2017
Mn nanoparticles decorated on the ionic liquid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a supercapacitor electrode material
Multiwalled carbon nanotubes/ionic liquid/Mn nanohybrids (MWCNTs/IL/Mn) are synthesized by chemical reduction method. This method involves functionalization of MWCNTs with pyridinium based dicationic ionic liquid and in situ reduction of MnCl2. The surface morphology of MWCNTs/IL/Mn nanohybrids analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the tubular structure of MWCNTs. It also revealed that Mn nanoparticles are distributed on the high surface area of MWCNTs/IL. The potential application of MWCNTs/IL/Mn as an electrode for supercapacitor devices is investigated using electrochemical methods. The cyclic voltammetry of nanohybrids electrode using 3.0 M KOH electrolytes showed the presence of redox peaks suggesting pseudocapacitance behavior. The performance of the electrode is tested using cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectrometry. The as-prepared catalyst MWCNTs/IL/Mn nanohybrids electrode exhibit high specific capacitances of about 432.4 and 229.9 F g(-1) at scan rate of 5 and 10 mV s(-1) respectively. The specific capacitance obtained in this study was comparable with CNT/MnO2 based catalysts reported in the literature. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.