Atomic Symbiotic-Catalyst for Low-Temperature Zinc-Air Battery

Atomic-level designed electrocatalysts, including single-/dual-atom catalysts, have attracted extensive interests due to their maximized atom utilization efficiency and increased activity. Herein, a new electrocatalyst system termed as "atomic symbiotic-catalyst", that marries the advantages of typical single-/dual-atom catalysts while addressing their respective weaknesses, was proposed. In atomic symbiotic-catalyst, single-atom MN_x and local carbon defects formed under a specific thermodynamic condition, act synergistically to achieve high electrocatalytic activity and battery efficiency. This symbiotic-catalyst shows greater structural precision and preparation accessibility than those of dual-atom catalysts owing to its reduced complexity in chemical space. Meanwhile, it outperforms the intrinsic activities of conventional single-atom catalysts due to multi-active-sites synergistic effect. As a proof-of-concept study, an atomic symbiotic-catalyst comprising single-atom MnN₄ moieties and abundant sp³-hybridized carbon defects was constructed for low-temperature zinc-air battery, which exhibited a high peak power density of 76 mW cm^-2 with long-term stability at -40 °C, representing a top-level performance of such batteries.