Morphology-correlated optical dispersion and pseudocapacitive charge storage of α-MnO2 electrodes towards simultaneous enhancement of optical transparency and areal capacitance

Herein, we presented the fabrication of α-MnO2 thin film pseudocapacitive electrodes with enhanced optical transparency and areal capacitance. The optimized electrodes were achieved through a low-energy, binder-free, hexamethylenetetramine-assisted electrodeposition. Before this, attempts to increase the optical transparency of MnO2 electrodes had only been successful by reducing its mass load and thickness, which compromised its storage capacity. In this study, analysis of the optical dispersion properties of MnO2 was combined with the electrochemical investigation to demonstrate a nexus between nano-morphology, transparency and storage capacity.