Synthesis of sea-urchin shaped γ-MnO2nanostructures and their application in lithium batteries.

Sea-urchin shaped γ-MnO2hierarchical structures have been synthesized using a facile hydrothermal method without employing any template or surfactant with mild conditions. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by instrumental analyses such as XRD, SEM, and EDXS. γ-MnO2sea-urchins are assembled from nanowires of 20–50 nm in width and up to 3 μm in length. Electrochemical investigations indicate that the sea-urchin shaped γ-MnO2hierarchical nanostructures exhibit favorable performance compared to commercial manganese dioxide as cathode active materials in rechargeable Li–MnO2cells. The sample retains a performance of 101 mA h g−1after 20 charge/discharge cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]