Solar steam generation and supercapacitors are considered the best solutions for society's foremost issues like wastewater treatment and energy storage. Nanoporous carbons derived from the metal-organic framework are of great...

Graphitic carbon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries have seen remarkable development and commercial acceptance during the past three decades. Still, the performance of these materials is limited by low surface area,...

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most advanced and well-developed renewable energy storage solutions developed significantly over the last three decades. Resourceful and cost-effective transition metal phosphides (TMPs) have gained immense...

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) provide a safer and cost-effective energy storage solution by utilizing nonflammable water-based electrolytes. Although many research efforts are focused on optimizing zinc anode materials, developing suitable cathode materials is still challenging. In this study, one-dimensional, mixed-phase MnO2 nanorods are synthesized using ionic liquid (IL). Here, the IL acts as a structure-directing agent that modifies MnO2 morphology and introduces mixed phases, as confirmed by morphological, structural, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. The MnO2 nanorods developed by this method are utilized as a cathode material for ZIB application in the coin-cell configuration. As expected, Zn//MnO2 nanorods show a significant increase in their capacity to 347 Wh kg–1 at 100 mA g–1, which is better than bare MnO2 nanowires (207.1 Wh kg–1) synthesized by the chemical precipitation method. The battery is highly rechargeable and maintains good retention of 86% of the initial capacity and 99% Coulombic efficiency after 800 cycles at 1000 mA g–1. The ex situ XPS, X-ray diffraction, and in-depth electrochemical analysis confirm that MnO6 octahedra experience insertion/extraction of Zn2+ with high reversibility. This study suggests the potential use of MnO2 nanorods to develop high-performance and durable battery electrode materials suitable for large-scale applications.

The utilization of Ionic liquids (ILs) for synthesizing inorganic materials has shown considerable potential in the last decade. The unmatchable advantages, like low vapor pressure, good thermal stability, tunable solubility, and synthesis route flexibility, make them more promising than their aqueous counterparts. This work portrays the use of various ILs for synthesizing asymmetrically oriented α-MnO 2 nanorods. The formation of nanorods was more energetically favorable, and the addition of IL helped increase the material's surface area and conductivity. The enhanced surface and conductivity help in boosting the supercapacitive performance, as the material exhibits 352 F g À 1 in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte. The synthesized material and activated carbon were used to assemble an asymmetric supercapacitor device. This device has shown an excellent energy density of 28.5 Wh kg À 1 and a power density of 96.5 W kg À 1 in 1 M Na 2 SO 4 electrolyte.