Hybrid nanostructured C-dot decorated Fe3O4 electrode materials for superior electrochemical energy storage performance.

Research on energy storage devices has created a niche owing to the ever increasing demand for alternative energy production and its efficient utilisation. Here, a novel composite of Fe3O4 nanospheres and carbon quantum dots (C-dots) have been synthesized by a two step chemical route. Hybrids of C-dots with metal oxides can contribute to charge storage capacity through the combined effect of Faradaic pseudocapacitance from the Fe3O4 and the excellent electrical properties of the C-dots, which are a promising new member of the carbon family. The structural and morphological properties of the obtained Fe3O4-C hybrid nanocomposite were extensively studied. Detailed electrochemical studies show that the high performance of the magnetically responsive Fe3O4-C hybrid nanocomposite makes it an efficient supercapacitor electrode material. The remarkable improvement in the electrochemical performance of the Fe3O4-C hybrid nanocomposite is attributed to the Faradaic pseudocapacitance of Fe3O4 coupled with the high electrical conductivity of the C-dot which aided in fast transport and ionic motion during the charge-discharge cycles. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge studies of Fe3O4-C hybrid nanocomposite show that the nanosystem delivers a maximum specific capacitance of ∼208 F g(-1). These results demonstrate that the novel Fe3O4-C hybrid nanocomposite has great potential as a high performance electrode material for supercapacitors.