Redox exchange induced MnO2 nanoparticle enrichment in poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanowires for electrochemical energy storage.

MnO2 nanoparticle enriched poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanowires are fabricated by simply soaking the PEDOT nanowires in potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solution. The structures of these MnO2 nanoparticle enriched PEDOT nanowires are characterized by SEM and TEM, which show that the MnO2 nanoparticles have uniform sizes and are finely dispersed in the PEDOT matrix. The chemical constituents and bonding of these composite nanowires are characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy, which indicate that the formation and dispersion of these MnO2 nanoparticles into the nanoscale pores of the PEDOT nanowires are most likely triggered by the reduction of KMnO4 via the redox exchange of permanganate ions with the functional group on PEDOT. Varying the concentrations of KMnO4 and the reaction time controls the loading amount and size of the MnO2 nanoparticles. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge are used to characterize the electrochemical properties of these MnO2 nanoparticle loaded PEDOT nanowires. Due to their extremely high exposed surface area with nanosizes, the pristine MnO2 nanoparticles in these MnO2 nanoparticle enriched PEDOT nanowires show very high specific capacitance (410 F/g) as the supercapacitor electrode materials as well as high Li+ storage capacity (300 mAh/g) as cathode materials of Li ion battery, which boost the energy storage capacity of PEDOT nanowires to 4 times without causing excessive volume expansion in the polymer. The highly conductive and porous PEDOT matrix facilitates fast charge/discharge of the MnO2 nanoparticles and prevents them from agglomerating. These synergic properties enable the MnO2 nanoparticle enriched PEDOT nanowires to be promising electrode materials for supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries.