The physical and chemical properties of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) are determined predominantly by the conditions employed during the anodic deposition process. There are relationships between deposition parameters, EMD properties and battery performance, as reported in many investigations. This study describes the influence of pulse current and direct current on the electrochemical properties of EMD. The EMD produced at different current conditions is characterized by charge–discharge cycling of various samples in the cathodic mixture of rechargeable alkaline AA cells, whereby the anode composition and the other cell parameters are kept constant. Results have shown that there is a systematic correlation between the pulse parameters and the cycle performance of EMD. The charge–discharge characteristics of test cells indicate an improvement in cycle performance of EMD with increasing duty cycle (i.e. with the approach of pulse current to direct current).