Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are amazing precursors for the development of functional catalysts due to their ability of being modified both structurally and in terms of composition. This work presents a pair of MOF - derived oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for the advancement of zinc-air batteries. Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF) are known as ideal materials to create doped carbons. Combining with a sacrificial tellurium template, we have developed a “pseudo-carbon nanotube” with a ZIF-8 that is doped with a mixture of zinc, cobalt, and iron. The resulting mixed-metal doped porous carbon nanotubes (CoFeZn@pCNT) show excellent catalytic activity for ORR with a half-way ORR potential (E_1/2) of 0.87 V vs. RHE (reverse hydrogen electrode). Iridium-based catalysts are known as the best option for OER so far, but it is not viable for practical applications due to cost restrictions. Previous research into alternative catalysts has focused on metal oxides with first-row transition metals. Metal sulfides provide superior conductivity compared to metal oxides and are a new frontier in the search for affordable, active, and stable OER catalysts. By combining cobalt, iron, and nickel into a MOF structure (ZIF-67), followed by a sulfurization process, a MOF-derived mixed-metal sulfide catalyst (FeCoNi–S@ZIF) has been developed in this study. The resulting catalysts show an onset OER potential of 1.65 V vs. RHE at 10 mA cm⁻² and exhibit remarkable stability for the operation of zinc-air batteries.

金属有机骨架（MOF）是功能性催化剂开发的令人惊奇的前体，因为它们能够在结构上和组成上进行改性。这项工作提出了一对MOF衍生的氧还原反应（ORR）和氧释放反应（OER）催化剂，以促进锌空气电池的发展。沸石咪唑酸盐骨架（ZIF）是产生掺杂碳的理想材料。结合牺牲碲模板，我们开发了带有ZIF-8的“伪碳纳米管”，该ZIF-8掺杂有锌，钴和铁的混合物。所得的混合金属掺杂多孔碳纳米管（CoFeZn @ pCNT）对ORR具有极好的中途ORR催化活性（E _1/2相对于RHE（反向氢电极）为0.87 V）。迄今为止，铱基催化剂被认为是OER的最佳选择，但由于成本限制，在实际应用中并不可行。先前对替代催化剂的研究集中于具有第一行过渡金属的金属氧化物。与金属氧化物相比，金属硫化物具有更高的电导率，并且在寻找价格合理，活性和稳定的OER催化剂方面是新的前沿。通过将钴，铁和镍结合成MOF结构（ZIF-67），然后进行硫化工艺，已开发出MOF衍生的混合金属硫化物催化剂（FeCoNi–S @ ZIF）。所得催化剂在10mA cm ^-2下显示出相对于RHE为1.65V的起始OER电势，并且对于锌-空气电池的操作显示出显着的稳定性。