Effect of potential and current on electrodeposited MnO2 as a pseudocapacitor electrode: Surface morphology/chemistry and stability

Amorphous MnO2 (a-MnO2) that exhibits a high theoretical specific capacitance can be conveniently grown via electrodeposition as a pseudocapacitor electrode. However, the electrodeposited a-MnO2 exhibits lower electrochemical stability than a-MnO2 synthesized using other routes. We investigate the influence of the electrodeposition conditions on the evolution of the properties of a-MnO2 during electrodeposition and their corresponding effect on the electrochemical stability. MnO2 is electrodeposited at potentiostatic and galvanostatic mode. The different surface morphology/chemistry of a-MnO2 is obtained by applying high and low potentials or current. The applied potential or current determines the surface morphology based on a predominance between nucleation and growth of a-MnO2. The fine surface enables a higher specific capacitance because of the enlarged specific surface area but also leads to lower rate performance by limiting ion transport through the smaller microstructure. The opposite results are observed in a coarse MnO2 deposit. When the applied potential or current is high, the manganese has a lower average valence number. The lifetime of a-MnO2 is degraded by the irreversible reaction between Mn4+/Mn7+ and oxygen evolution. Particularly, finer MnO2 is less stable than coarse one, which can arise from multiple high-energy connecting sites. A narrow potential window without Mn4+/Mn7+ interconversion promotes long-term stability. •The potential or current determines the surface properties of electrodeposited MnO2.•Surface morphology of MnO2 affects the specific capacitance and rate capability.•Low stability is due to irreversible redox process and the oxygen evolution reaction.•Finer MnO2 is unstable due to multiple connections between the small flakes.•Cycles without Mn4+/Mn7+ conversion ensure the long-term stability.