Highly-Dispersed Ni-QDs/Mesoporous Carbon Nanoplates: A Universal and Commercially Applicable Approach Based on Corn Straw Piths and High Capacitive Performances.

Metal and metal oxides are extremely competitive in various applications such as catalysis and energy storage, while the intrinsically unsatisfactory ion/electron conductivity and/or large volume swing severely inhibit their inherent potentials. Quantum dots (QDs) can significantly promote the conductivity, buffer volume variation, and introduce novel physical/chemical properties, especially in cooperation with mesoporous carbon (MC), and hence are attracting ever-increasing attention. However, it is still a worldwide challenge to exploit a facile, efficient, environmentally benign, commercially applicable, and, in particular, universal method for varied QDs/MC hybrids. In this work, a powerful approach is proposed on basis of corn straw piths, and a synthetic mechanism is proposed and investigated systematically. According to this route, Ni, Co, Cu, and MnO QDs/MC nanoplates are successfully fabricated. As a typical example, ultrasmall Ni QDs (5-7 nm) are homogeneously distributed on the large surface of MC nanoplates and exhibit a reversible capacitance of 2420 F g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ and rate performance. This work discloses a new and paramount path to exploit versatile QDs/MC hybrids for promising applications such as lithium ion batteries, solar cells, Li-air batteries, and other promising fields with electrochemical catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]