Engineering atomically dispersed Mn and Fe sites on hollow nitrogen-doped carbon for high-performance Zn-air batteries

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) have garnered significant interest due to their environmental friendliness, low cost, and high energy density. However, their practical application is significantly hindered by high overpotential and sluggish reaction kinetics. Here, we propose a hollow nitrogen-doped carbon supported atomically dispersed Fe and Mn sites (FeMn-HNC) through a facile NaCl-assisted pyrolysis strategy. The synthesized FeMn-HNC catalyst possesses a hollow porous structure, resulting in exceptional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic activity, remarkable durable stability, and good tolerance to methanol. Furthermore, integrating this catalyst into ZABs demonstrates significant performance advantages, achieving a maximum power density of 223.1 mW cm −2 and a high specific capacity of 804.3 mAh g −1 . This study offers a promising approach for boosting the power density and specific capacity of nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts in ZABs.