Molten-salt-assisted synthesis of onion-like Co/CoO@FeNC materials with boosting reversible oxygen electrocatalysis for rechargeable Zn-air battery

[Display omitted] •A reverse emulsion is utilized to form iron-polypyrrole (Fe-PPy) precursor.•Melt-salt-mediated pyrolysis of Fe-PPy constructs onion-like Co/CoO@FeNC.•Co/CoO@FeNC consists of Co/CoO nanoparticles embedded in graphitic carbon shells.•Co/CoO@FeNC proves reversable oxygen catalytic performance with a ΔE of 0.695 V.•Co/CoO@FeNC catalyst improves the durability and power density of Zinc-air battery. A melt-salt-assisted method is utilized to construct an onion-like hybrid with Co/CoO nanoparticles embedded in graphitic Fe-N-doped carbon shells (Co/CoO@FeNC) as a bifunctional electrocatalyst. The iron-polypyrrole (Fe-PPy) is firstly prepared with a reverse emulsion. Direct pyrolysis of Fe-PPy yields turbostratic Fe-N-doped carbon (FeNC) with excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysis, while the melt salt (CoCl2) mediated pyrolysis of Fe-PPy obtains onion-like Co/CoO@FeNC with a reversible overvoltage value of 0.695 V, largely superior to Pt/C and IrO2 (0.771 V) and other Co-based catalysts reported so far. The ORR activity is mainly due to the graphitic FeNC and further enhanced by CoNx bonds, whereas the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity is principally due to the Co/CoO composite. Concurrently, Co/CoO@FeNC as cathode catalyst enables Zn-air battery with a high open circuit voltage of 1.42 V, a peak power density of 132.8 mW cm−2, a specific capacity of 813 mAh gZn−1, and long-term stability.