Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene - Research and Applications

Manganese oxide/carbon nanotubes (MO/CNTs) composite was prepared by hydrothermally reducing KMnO4 with CNTs, where the used CNTs are of dual role, i.e, they serve as reductant during reaction and the remaining CNTs act as conducting agent in the composite. This composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. In addition, the electrochemical performances of the composite were investigated, which suggested an excellent rate-capability of this material; e.g., it delivered a high discharge capacity as 131 mAh g^(-1) at a high current density of 4 A g^(-1) (20 C), and high capacity at low discharge current density, e.g., about 209 mAh g^(-1) at 0.2 C rate. Therefore, such a MO/CNTs composite is promising in high-power application of lithium battery and electrochemical capacitor.
Source: Materials Letters (2008), article in press.