Rooting MnO2 into protonated g-C3N4 by intermolecular hydrogen bonding for endurable supercapacitance. (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shi, Yanying; Gao, Shanmin; Yuan, Yifei; Liu, Guijing; Jin, Rencheng; Wang, Qingyao; Xu, Hui; Lu, Jun
• Is Part Of: Nano energy. Volume 77(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: Chemical bonding -- Composite -- Energy storage -- Protonated g-C3N4 nanosheet -- One-step synthesis; Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; Nanostructured materials -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Technological innovations -- Periodicals; Nanoscience; Nanostructured materials; Nanotechnology; Power resources -- Technological innovations; Periodicals; 621.042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105153
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2211-2855

Abstract

Abstract: Composited electrode materials for energy storage typically benefit from the merits of each component but meanwhile largely suffer from the vulnerable structural integrity during repetitive cycling. Realizing the merely physical attachment in most composited structures being too weak to survive harsh cycling, we report here a facile one-step synthesis strategy with generation of chemical bonds, more specifically, intermolecular hydrogen bonds, to tightly combine each component. We demonstrate this concept by designing a composite featuring MnO2 nanorods chemically rooted into protonated g-C3 N4, where the protonation of 2D g-C3 N4 substrate (pg-C3 N4 ), the nucleation/growth of MnO2 and the formation of hydrogen bonding between pg-C3 N4 and MnO2 simultaneously occur. The obtained composite, when applied for supercapacitive energy storage, yields maximum specific capacitances of 348.4 F g −1 at a current density of 1.0 A g −1 as well as a high retention of ~85.0% after 10000 cycles at 6.0 A g −1, surpassing most previously reported composited electrode materials based on either MnO2 or g-C3 N4 . We expect this work to inspire the synthesis of composited electrode materials with consolidated 3D architecture for endurable energy storage performance. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: A composite featuring MnO2 nanorods chemically rooted into protonated g-C3 N4 was designed and applied for supercapacitive energy storage. The hydrogen bonding between pg-C3 N4 and MnO2 maintains the structural integrity of the composite during repetitive cycling. The composite yields a specific capacitance of 348.4 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 and a high retention of ~85% after 10K cycles at 6.0 A·g −1 .