Zinc air batteries (ZAB) are considered as one of the most promising energy storage and conversion devices due to their high theoretical energy density and low cost. They generate and store energy through electrochemical reactions, such as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). But, the sluggish kinetics of ORR and OER prevents them from achieving the maximum efficiency. Although, noble metal (Pt, Pd, Ir) based catalysts are considered as benchmark catalysts for ORR and OER, their high cost and poor stability during the reactions restrict their large-scale commercialization. Recently, transition metal carbides (TMCs) and nitrides (TMNs) were investigated for ZAB applications due to the higher catalytic activity, lower costs and better stability. Hence, this review mainly based on the discussion of various TMCs and TMNs, and focused on the application for ZAB and the problems associated with the development of TMCs and TMNs based catalysts. Further exploration was conducted on how to overcome these issues with feasible technical methods, such as heteroatom doping, compositing with carbonaceous materials etc.

锌空气电池（ZAB）由于其高理论能量密度和低成本被认为是最有前途的能量存储和转换装置之一。它们通过电化学反应产生和储存能量，例如析氧反应 (OER) 和氧还原反应 (ORR)。但是，ORR 和 OER 的缓慢动力学阻碍了它们实现最大效率。尽管贵金属（Pt、Pd、Ir）基催化剂被认为是 ORR 和 OER 的基准催化剂，但其成本高和反应过程中的稳定性差限制了其大规模商业化。最近，过渡金属碳化物（TMCs）和氮化物（TMNs）由于具有更高的催化活性、更低的成本和更好的稳定性而被研究用于 ZAB 应用。因此，本综述主要基于对各种TMCs和TMNs的讨论，重点关注ZAB的应用以及与基于TMCs和TMNs的催化剂开发相关的问题。进一步探索如何通过杂原子掺杂、与碳质材料复合等可行的技术方法来克服这些问题。