Element
doping is an effective method to improve the specific capacity
and ion transfer rate of binary metal compounds. In this study, Cu-doped
Ni–Co-based electrode materials were synthesized by a hydrothermal
process and subsequent annealing treatment. The experimental results
show that the nanocone-like Cu-doped Ni–Co carbonate
hydroxides (Ni–Co–Cu CH) with high mass loading and
the Cu-doped Ni–Co oxide (Ni–Co–Cu oxide) electrode
with abundant oxygen defects achieve high area specific capacities
of 6.31 F/cm2 and 6.54 F/cm2 at 3 A/g, respectively,
which are about 2.5 times larger than the area specific capacity of
the undoped nanorod-like Ni–Co precursor electrode (2.51 F/cm2 at 3 A/g). The quasi-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors
(ASCs) Ni–Co–Cu CH//AC and Ni–Co–Cu oxide//AC
also achieved high energy densities of 36.9 Wh/kg and 42.1 Wh/kg at
power densities of 374.2 W/kg and 374.9 W/kg, respectively, which
can light up a red light emitting didode for ∼8 min and ∼11
min, respectively. Cu doping not only changes the morphology and defect
state of a Ni–Co bimetallic compound electrode but also improves
its electricity conduction and electrochemical performance. This strategy
has important reference significance for the preparation of excellent
performance supercapacitor energy storage materials in the future.