Highly conductive three-dimensional MnO₂–carbon nanotube–graphene–Ni hybrid foam as a binder-free supercapacitor electrode

Abstract

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-graphene hybrids grown on porous Ni foam are used as substrates to immobilize MnO2 nanoflakes, thus forming three-dimensional (3D) MnO2-CNT-graphene-Ni hybrid foam. The as-prepared hybrid materials could be used as supercapacitor electrodes directly without any binder and conductive additives, and fully maintain the high conductivity and high surface-to-volume ratio of CNTs, large pseudocapacitance of MnO2 nanoflakes and high porosity provided by the framework of Ni foam. The conductivity of the 3D MnO2-CNT-graphene-Ni foam is as high as 117 S cm(-1) due to the seamless integration of MnO2 nanoflakes, CNTs, graphene and Ni foam among the 3D frameworks, which guarantee its low internal resistance (1.25 ohm) when compacted into supercapacitor devices. In aqueous electrolytes, the 3D MnO2-CNT-graphene-Ni based prototype supercapacitors show specific capacitances of ~251 F g(-1) with good cycling stability at a current density of 1.0 A g(-1). In addition, these 3D hybrids also demonstrate their potential in all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors.