More advantages for the use of MnO 2 as the electrode material were explained in previous reports. MnO 2 nanostructures with well-controlled morphology and crystal phase are expected to exhibit improved electrochemical performance when being used in supercapacitors and electrochemical sensing. The choice of suitable electrode materials, which will be used to build novel high-performance electrodes in future electrochemical applications, is critical in the modeling and optimization of electrochemical devices. Previous studies demonstrated that electrochemical techniques with moderate cost, instrumental simplicity, high portability, and suitable performance showed promise in a diverse range of applications such as solar cells, batteries, sensors, and supercapacitors, and hence provided more realistic solutions to address both the energy and public health challenges. Clearly, a fast, simple, efficient, and cost-effective approach needs to be developed in order to monitor blood glucose, allowing for improving glycemic control. In Taiwan, diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death (data obtained from Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan). The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimated that the number of people worldwide with diabetes (aged 20–79 years) would increase to 700 million in 2045. World-class public health is another globally important issue and challenge. Supercapacitors serve as intermediate energy storage systems between traditional capacitors and batteries, due to their simple construction, short charging time, safety, high power density, and excellent lifetime, which could replace fossil fuel use to meet energy requirements for reducing the fossil fuel energy consumption and further relaxing environmental pollution. The relationship expressed above indicated that key technological changes and suitable implementation strategies might be necessary for promoting opportunities to reduce fossil fuel dependency, and, simultaneously, implement health promotion/disease prevention. Over the years, fossil fuel consumption and public health problems have posed serious issues, including global warming and substantial human diseases, that have caused significant negative economic and human health impacts. It is further concluded that MnO 2/extended graphite could be a good candidate for the future design of synergistic multifunctional materials in electrochemical techniques. In glucose sensing, MnO 2/extended graphite exhibited a good linear relationship in glucose concentration up to about 5 mM, sensitivity of 43 μA mM −1cm −2, and the limit of detection of 0.081 mM. In supercapacitors, MnO 2/extended graphite delivered an areal capacitance value of 20.4 mF cm −2 at 0.25 mA cm −2 current densities and great cycling stability (capacitance retention of 83% after 1000 cycles). It can be expected to display better electrical conductivity and further promote electron/ion transport kinetics for boosting the electrochemical performance in supercapacitors and glucose sensing. MnO 2/extended graphite exhibited an increase in sp 2 carbon bonds in comparison with that of extended graphite. A simple, efficient, and cost-effective extended graphite as a supporting platform further supported the MnO 2 growth for the construction of hierarchical flower-like MnO 2/extended graphite.

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