Birnessite based nanostructures for supercapacitors: challenges, strategies and prospects

In the past few years, intensive attention has been focused on birnessite based electrodes for supercapacitors. Much progress has been achieved in developing birnessite based nanostructures with high electrochemical performance. However, challenges still remain in taking full advantage of birnessite and building smart structures to overcome the gap between the obtained capacitance and its theoretical capacitance. In this review, the basic information on birnessite and its preparation strategies are summarized and the current challenges are put forward. Finally, some new strategies for preparing high electrochemical performance birnessite based nanostructures are highlighted.