In Situ Growth of MnO₂ Nanosheets on a Graphite Flake as an Effective Binder-Free Electrode for High-Performance Supercapacitors

In this work, manganese dioxide (MnO₂) nanosheets in situ loaded on a high-purity graphite flake (GF) were prepared by one-step hydrothermal deposition. It was found that the specific capacitance value of a single MnO₂/GF electrode was 882 F/g at a current density of 1.0 A/g in a KOH electrolyte, and the specific capacitance retention of the MnO₂/GF electrode can reach about 90.1% after 5000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 10 A/g. Furthermore, a MnO₂/GF∥MnO₂/GF symmetric supercapacitor device was fabricated with two pieces of MnO₂/GF electrodes and ordinary filter paper with a 1 M KOH/PVA gel electrolyte as a separator. The single symmetric device displayed a high energy density of 64.2 Wh/kg at a power density of 400 W/kg within an applied voltage of 1.6 V, and this value was superior to those of previously reported MnO₂-based systems. A tandem device consisting of a five-series tandem device (the applied voltage of a single device was 0.7 V) and a three-series tandem device (the applied voltage of a single device was 1.6 V) was prepared to drive a red light-emitting diode (LED). These findings open up application prospects for MnO₂-based composite electrode materials for high-performance supercapacitors.