Fabrication of MnAlNiO to boost the conversion of plastic wastes to CNTs for the supercapacitor application

Conversion of plastic wastes to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with excellent electrochemical properties is promising to alleviate the environmental and energy crisis. Herein, MnAlNiO were prepared by the co-precipitation method, and used for CNTs synthesis from polyethylene (PE). It was found that Mn0.7Al0.2Ni0.1O obtained a CNTs yield of 966 mg/gcatalyst, which exhibited high aspect ratio and uniformity. Mn0.7Al0.2Ni0.1O/CNTs composite exhibited a specific capacitance of 170F/g at 0.3 A/g, which was significantly higher than pristine Mn0.7Al0.2Ni0.1O (54F/g). The superiority of Mn0.7Al0.2Ni0.1O/CNTs composite in the energy storage was closely related to the in-situ growth of CNTs that effectively reduced the electrochemical impedance and improved the charge transport. It was deduced that the synergistic effect between MnAlNiO and CNTs improved the electrochemical performance in the supercapacitor application.