Synthesis and characterization of MnO2/Eggplant carbon composite for enhanced supercapacitors

In this paper, the eggplant carbon (EC)was derived from eggplant skin by one-step carbonization method. Sub-sequently, the MnO2/eggplant carbon (MnO2/EC) composite was prepared viain-situ hydrothermal method. The morphology and structure as well as electrochemical performance were investigated through a series of characterization and tests. The results showed that the urchin shaped structures of MnO2 was successfully loaded on the surface of EC. The electrochemical studies indicated that the specific capacitance of the MnO2/ECcomposite could reach 652.5F/g at 0.5 A/g in 1 M Na2SO4 aqueous electrolyte. In addition, the MnO2/EC composite exhibits excellent cyclic stability after 10000 cycles, which might be ascribed to the synergistic effect of MnO2 and EC for the improvement of electrochemical performance. Taken together, this work demonstrated that MnO2/EC composite can be used in the aspect of energy storage for high-performance supercapacitors.

Automated summary

In this study, eggplant carbon (EC) was derived from eggplant skin and used to prepare MnO2/EC composite. The composite exhibited well-defined morphology and structure and showed excellent electrochemical performance. Due to the synergistic effect, the MnO2/EC composite can be used for energy storage in high-performance supercapacitors.