Performance of Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Nanoparticles Carrying FeNiCu as Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Rechargeable Zinc‐Air Battery

Abstract Catalysts for zinc‐air batteries (ZABs) must be stable over long‐term charging‐discharging cycles and exhibit bifunctional catalytic activity. In this study, by doping nitrogen‐doped carbon (NC) materials with three metal atoms (Fe, Ni, and Cu), a single‐atom‐distributed FeNiCu‐NC bifunctional catalyst is prepared. The catalyst includes Fe(Ni‐doped)‐N₄ for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), Fe(Cu‐doped)‐N₄ for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the NiCu‐NC catalytic structure for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the nitrogen‐doped carbon nanoparticles. This single‐atom distribution catalyst structure enhances the bifunctional catalytic activity. If a trimetallic single‐atom catalyst is designed, it will surpass the typical bimetallic single‐atom catcalyst. FeNiCu‐NC exhibits outstanding performance as an electrocatalyst, with a half‐wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.876 V versus RHE, overpotential (E_{j = 10}) of 253 mV versus RHE at 10 mA cm⁻², and a small potential gap (ΔE = 0.61 V). As the anode in a ZAB, FeNiCu‐NC can undergo continuous charge‐discharged cycles for 575 h without significant attenuation. This study presents a new method for achieving high‐performance, low‐cost ZABs via trimetallic single‐atom doping.