Capacitive behavior of nanostructured MnO2 prepared by sonochemistry method

Nanostructured manganese dioxide has been successfully prepared by a sonochemical method from an aqueous solution of potassium bromate and manganese sulfate. Changing the proportions of reagents leads either to γ- or layered structures of MnO₂. The capacitive characteristics of the samples were systematically investigated in aqueous electrolytes through means of cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry methods. The electrochemical properties of MnO₂ were strongly affected by the pH of electrolyte employed and this material exhibited ideally capacitive behavior in 0.5 M aqueous Na₂SO₄ solution. A maximum specific capacitance of 344 F g⁻¹ was obtained for the layered structure determined via cyclic voltammetry at a scan rate of 5 mV s⁻¹ in 0.5 M aqueous Na₂SO₄ solution at pH 3.3. Excellent electrochemical reversibility of the materials was also demonstrated.Layered structure MnO₂ showed higher energy density at high power density than the γ-structure material.Impedance spectroscopy studies revealed that charge transfer resistance of the γ-structure oxide has higher value than that of the layered structure.