Herein, we report the optical and electrochemical properties of Pb ions doped ZnO nanocrystals fabricated via a simple chemical precipitation method. The structural and chemical compositions of the products are characterized by XRD, XPS, EDS and FT-IR spectroscopy. The observed results suggest that Pb ions are successfully incorporated into the ZnO lattice. The microstructures of the samples are analyzed by FESEM and confirmed by HRTEM. The PL emission spectra show an intensity quenching upon doping. Electrochemical performances show that the supercapacitor behavior of ZnO has been enhanced greatly on doping. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.