Metal–organic framework derived phosphide-hydroxide heterostructure as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for zinc–air batteries

Rational design and fabrication of high-efficiency electrocatalysts is essential for improving the kinetics of both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), so as to constructing high-performance rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs). Among the promising candidates, transition metal-based (oxy)hydroxides have attracted extensive attention for their considerable catalytic potential on oxygen-involved reaction, while unsatisfactory intermediate adsorption/desorption strength and low conductivity limit their practical feasibility. In this work, interface engineering modification strategy is proposed, and a metal–organic framework derived heterostructure catalyst of CoFeO _xH _y -CoP@CC is fabricated. Comprehensively analyses demonstrate that the interaction between phosphide-(oxy)hydroxide induces the interfacial electronic redistribution, while the formed Schottky heterostructure facilitates rapid electron transfer. All these kinetically favorable for both OER and ORR, and leads to remarkable bifunctional performance on CoFeO _xH _y -CoP@CC, with the OER overpotential of 240 mV to deliver the current density of 10 mA·cm ⁻², which is better than CoP@CC, CC and RuO ₂. In practical applications, liquid zinc-air cells assembled by CoFeO _xH _y -CoP@CC deliver the peak power density up to 117.55 mW cm ⁻², which is close to that of 20% Pt/C catalyst (108.48 mW cm ⁻²), and considerable operational performance has also been achieved in all solid-state flexible ZABs.