In-situ evolution process understanding from a salan-ligated manganese cluster to supercapacitive application

The goal of material chemistry is to study the relationship among hierarchical structure,chemical reaction and precision preparation for materials,yet tracking pyrolysis process on multi-dimensional scale is still at primary stage.Here we propose packing mode analysis to understand evolution process in high temperature reaction.As a proof of concept,we first design a salan-ligated Mn3(Mn3(3-MeOsalophen)_(2)(Cl)_(2))cluster and pyrolyze it under an inert atmosphere directly to a mixed valence MnOx embedded in a porous N-doped carbon skeleton(MnOx/C).Meanwhile,combining thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry(TG-MS)with other characterization techniques,its pyrolysis process is precisely tracked real-time and Mn^(2+)/Mn^(3+)ratios in the resulting materials are deduced,ensuring excellent electrochemical advantages.As a result,the as-preferred MnOVC-900 sample reaches 943 F/g at 1 A/g,maintaining good durability under 5,000 cycles with 90%retention.The highlight of packing mode analysis strategy in this work would provide a favorable approach to explore the potential relationship between structure and performance in the future.