Bio-assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of MnWO4 Nanorods for High-Performance Supercapacitor Applications

MnWO4 nanorods have been successfully synthesized using a facile, cost-effective DNA-templated hydrothermal method. The effect of the hydrothermal reaction time and DNA template were systematically examined, and both were found to affect the surface morphology of the MnWO4. The prepared specimens were further investigated by x-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, confocal Raman spectroscopy, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The morphological studies further confirmed formation of MnWO4 nanorod structure (MW-3 specimen) with dimensional size and length of 110 nm and 40 nm, respectively. Electrochemical investigations on the MnWO4 (MW-3 specimen) electrode revealed high specific capacitance of 386 F g(-1) at scan rate of 5 mV s(-1) with 90% capacitance retention after 2000 cycles and further excellent rate capability. These findings suggest that such MnWO4 nanorod electrode would be promising candidates for use in energy storage devices.