This work is the first to systematically relate manganese oxide film storage/drying to a full gamut of electrochemical capacitor (EC) properties, with the aim of enhancing these properties and addressing this oxide's well-known stability issues. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charging-discharging show that increased film-drying temperatures result in lower resistance and higher power but at the expense of capacitance and energy. Film drying reduces physical stability and cycle life, while undried, electrolyte-stored films exhibit poor long-term aging. Novel electrolyte-stored films show a similar to 102% capacitance increase, similar to 75% energy increase and 32% improved film usage compared to 200 degrees C-dried films, while 200 degrees C drying results in a similar to 69% power increase and similar to 75% decrease in resistance compared to nonheat-treated films. Using the knowledge acquired from this systematic study, we then strategically design an innovative double-deposition in which an initial manganese oxide layer is oven-dried and subsequently recoated with a second manganese oxide layer before storing the entire electrode in electrolyte. Films made with this novel double-deposition demonstrate the optimal properties achieved from both electrolyte-stored films (high energy, capacitance, coulombic efficiency, and physical stability) and heat-treated films (low resistance, higher power and rate capability, good aging, and stability in a large potential window); they also demonstrate the smallest degree of self-discharge. This novel synthesis produces films suitable for a wider range of EC applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.