Bringing Real-World Energy-Storage Research into a Second-Year Physical-Chemistry Lab Using a MnO2-Based Supercapacitor

As the need for alternative energy becomes increasingly important, energy research and related industries are rapidly expanding. This lab incorporates current energy-storage research into a second-year lab that instills real-world, industry-relevant knowledge and skills while teaching and reinforcing physical-chemistry concepts. A manganese oxide electrode, aqueous-Na2SO4-electrolyte supercapacitor system is used because it has no air or water sensitivity, unlike most battery technologies, so it is easy to implement in an undergraduate-lab setting. Manganese oxide is an increasingly popular supercapacitor material, and this lab introduces the concept of pseudocapacitance, in which current flows while still being governed by the Nernst equation (i.e., at equilibrium). Students conduct realistic and industrially relevant electrochemical experiments; they electrodeposit manganese oxide films and test them using cyclic voltammetry. Students compare the manganese oxide results to those from a nonpseudocapaciti...