Quinone-Wrapped Nanostructured MnO2: A Synergetic Approach to Enhanced Supercapacitive Behavior and Magnetic Properties

The paper presents the enhanced supercapacitive behavior of quinone decorated MnO2 nanostructures with remarkable capacitance retention. This hierarchical small organic molecules like quinone wrap over MnO2 creating 3D network structures which has significant impact on the electrochemical performance of MnO2/1,4-benzoquinone. Quinone assisted MnO2 preparation results in formation of quinone decorated MnO2 nanorods. More interestingly, temperature dependent magnetization studies of the compounds reveal that the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature (TN) increases from 11 K for pristine MnO2 to 20 K for quinone wrapped MnO2 and an enhanced Mn4+-Mn3+ redox activity in the system. The electrochemical performance of the compounds has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling and electrochemical impedance studies. The initial specific capacitance of quinone decorated MnO2 and pristine MnO2 are found to be 320 and 240 Fg(-1) at a current density of 0.5 mA cm(-2) respectively. Quinone decorated MnO2 nanostructures has significantly enhanced the specific capacitance and cyclability. This remarkable electrochemical performance of quinone decorated MnO2 is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between MnO2 and quinone. (C) 2016 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.