Preparation of activated carbon decorated with carbon dots and its electrochemical performance

Activated carbon decorated with carbon dots (ACD) was synthesized using an alkali activation process, in which metallic potassium expands the layer stacks and scissored turbostratic-structured carbon surface into nanosized particles. In addition, we demonstrated a capacitive effect in supercapacitors based on ACD, which has a high electrical conductivity because of the electronic pathway between the surface defects on activated carbon. The cyclic voltammogram curve was less distorted when the scan rate was increased to 100 mV s^-1. Improved additional volumetric capacitance of up to 123.2 F cc^-1 was achieved because the carbon dots provided additional capacitance resulting from intercalation into the graphitic carbon structure. The results obtained herein pave new ways for application of nanocarbons in energy storage.