Carbon quantum dots modified and Y 3+ doped Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 nanospheres with excellent battery-like supercapacitor performance.

Supercapacitor is an important energy storage device widely used in the automobile industry, military production, and communication equipment because of its fast charge-discharge rate, and high power density. Herein, carbon quantum dots modified and Y 3+ doped Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 (NiY@CQDs) nanospheres are prepared by a solvothermal method and used as an electrode material. The electrochemical properties of NiY@CQDs were measured in a three-electrode system. An asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) cell was assembled with activated carbon (AC) as the anode and NiY@CQDs as the cathode. The electrochemical properties of the ASC device were measured in a two-electrode system. Experimental results show the shape of NiY@CQDs is petal-shaped and the introducing carbon quantum dots and doping Y 3+ significantly increases the specific surface area, conductivity, and specific capacitance of Ni 3 (NO 3 ) 2 (OH) 4 . The mass-specific capacitance of NiY@CQDs reaches up to 2944 F g -1 at a current density of 1 A g -1 . The asymmetric supercapacitor of NiY@CQDs//AC has a high energy density of 138.65 Wh kg -1 at a power density of 1500 W kg -1 , displaying a wide range of application prospects in the energy storage area.