Project

Nano-Fibre Scaffold Electrodes based on Mn02 and Polymer/Carbon Composites for High Performance Storage Device

Manganese dioxide (MnO₂) is a technologically important material and has been extensively studied due to its potential uses in non-volatile memory devices, gas sensors and batteries. The construction of aligned ensembles of these metal oxide nanostructures as electrodes could advance their existing potential in supercapacitor applications. Since, the specific surface area of electrodes is directly related to the specific capacitance, fabricating unique nano-morphological structures can increase specific surface area.

A well-defined nano-architecture of these metal oxide layer in the form of ordered nanowire or nanotube array is expected to significantly improve their performance. The main objective of the proposed work is to understand the role of an electrode’s surface architecture in the efficacy of a supercapacitor. The proposed work aims to focus on Manganese dioxide (MnO₂), which will be taken as the base electrode material, and develop a 5V-5F prototype of solid state MnO₂-carbon/polymer based supercapacitor.

The proposed work aims to focus on transition metal oxides, namely Nickel oxide (NiO), which is taken as the base electrode materials in combination with carbon materials like graphene, carbon nanotubes, activated carbon, etc.

The plan is to:

1. Develop a controlled and optimised electro-deposition technique by which a well-defined topographical nanostructure that can selectively modulate the electrochemical and capacitance behavior of the electrodes.
2. Observe the relationship between the electrode nanomorphology and its discharge performance as a supercapacitor material.