Developing inexpensive catalysts with plentiful active sites and high surface area to accelerate the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great significance for metal–air batteries. Nevertheless, it is still a challenge to balance the content of active sites and the high surface area of catalysts, especially in a versatile and economical way. Herein, a single-atom Fe catalyst was prepared by pyrolyzing biomass aerogels that anchor iron ions through coordination reactions. With the synergistic effect of a large surface area and a high Fe content, the optimized catalyst FeNC-900-8 shows excellent ORR activity and stability. The Zn–air battery with catalyst FeNC-900-8 as the cathode delivers a high peak power density and discharge voltage. This work offers a facile strategy to develop single-atom catalysts with a high surface area and a moderate metal content for high-performance ORRs.

开发具有丰富活性位点和高表面积的廉价催化剂来加速氧还原反应（ORR）对于金属-空气电池具有重要意义。然而，平衡活性位点的含量和催化剂的高表面积仍然是一个挑战，特别是以一种通用且经济的方式。在此，通过热解通过配位反应固定铁离子的生物质气凝胶制备了单原子 Fe 催化剂。在大表面积和高Fe含量的协同作用下，优化后的催化剂FeNC-900-8表现出优异的ORR活性和稳定性。以催化剂 FeNC-900-8 为阴极的锌空气电池具有高峰值功率密度和放电电压。