Unraveling the reaction mechanism of low dose Mn dopant in Ni(OH)_(2) supercapacitor electrode

摘要

Mn doping is deemed as a promising strategy to improve the electrochemical performance of the a-Ni(OH)_(2)battery-type supercapacitor electrode.However,the internal structure evolution,the pathways and the dynamics of the proton/intercalated anion migration,as well as the functioning mechanism of Mn dopant to stabilize the layered structure during cycles remain unclear.Here,we unveil that irreversible oxidization of Mn^(3+)at the initial CV cycles,which will remain as Mn^(4+)in the NiO_(2)slabs after the first oxidization to effectively suppress the phase transformation fromα-Ni(OH)_(2)/γ-NiOOH toβ-Ni(OH)_(2)/β-NiOOH and further maintain the structural integrity of electrode.With a synergistic combination of theoretical calculations and various structural probes including XRD and^(2)H MAS solid state NMR,we decode the structure evolution and dynamics in the initial CV(cyclic voltammetry)cycles,including the absorption/desorption of hydrogen containing species,migration of intercalated anions/water molecules and the change of interlayer space.This present work elucidates a close relationship between doping chemistry and structural reliability,paving a novel way of reengineering supercapacitor electrode materials.