The sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the bottleneck for practical applications of zinc-air batteries (ZABs). Developing highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts is of the essence for large-scale applications of ZABs. Herein, we design and synthesize the CoN_x/Zn, N co-doped porous carbon structure (CoN_x/Zn-NC) by self-polymerization of biomass materials and coupling of nitrogen-rich species with metallic ions. The introduced zinc element can regulate electronic structures of electrocatalysts and construct bimetallic active sites (N−Co/N−Zn species), facilitating the adsorption of reaction intermediates and further enhancing electrocatalytic performance. The porous carbon structure obtained by the self-polymerization of locust bean gum not only disperses active sites but also improves the O₂ and electron transfer efficiency of electrocatalysts. The CoN_x/Zn-NC exhibited excellent ORR electrocatalytic performance (E_1/2 = 0.85 V) as well as outstanding stability. Impressively, the ZABs assembled with CoN_x/Zn-NC demonstrated a high maximum power density, specific capacitance, and excellent charge/discharge cycling stability for 115 h, surpassing noble-metal based Pt/C catalyst.

氧气还原反应（ORR）的缓慢动力学是锌-空气电池（ZAB）实际应用的瓶颈。对于ZAB的大规模应用而言，开发高效的ORR电催化剂至关重要。在这里，我们设计并合成了CoN _x / Zn，N共掺杂的多孔碳结构（CoN _x/ Zn-NC）通过生物质材料的自聚合和富氮物种与金属离子的耦合。引入的锌元素可以调节电催化剂的电子结构并构建双金属活性位（N-Co / N-Zn物种），促进反应中间体的吸附并进一步增强电催化性能。通过刺槐豆胶的自聚合获得的多孔碳结构不仅分散了活性部位，而且提高了电催化剂的O ₂和电子转移效率。CoN _x / Zn-NC表现出优异的ORR电催化性能（E _1/2 = 0.85 V）以及出色的稳定性。令人印象深刻的是，ZAB与CoN _x组装在一起/ Zn-NC表现出高的最大功率密度，比电容和出色的115 h充放电循环稳定性，超过了贵金属基Pt / C催化剂。