P-doped Fe-N-C catalysts as advanced bifunctional electrocatalyst for ORR, OER and Zn-air batteries

•P-Fe-N-C was developed for ORR,OER and Zn-air batteries.•P-Fe-N-C exhibits an outstanding ORR (half-wave potential of 0.851 V).•P-Fe-N-C improves OER performance (overpotential of 396 mV at 20 mA cm−2).•The peak power density of P-Fe-N-C is 158.1 mW cm−2.•The outstanding performance due to the synergistic composition and robust structures. Developing highly active bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great significance in the field of energy conversion and energy storage. Currently, the Fe-N-C catalyst has emerged as an ideal material to replace platinum-based catalysts for ORR. However, its OER performance falls short of meeting the requirements. In this study, we prepared a P-doped Fe-N-C catalyst through a simple phosphating process. This catalyst retains excellent ORR performance (half-wave potential of 0.851 V), significantly improves OER performance (overpotential of 396 mV at 20 mA cm−2), and exhibits favorable performance in zinc-air batteries (peak power density of 158.1 mW cm−2). These findings present a new avenue for the further applications of Fe-N-C catalysts.