Nitrogen-doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Research Articles

A hierarchical porous structure and nitrogen-doping jointly enhance the lithium-ion storage capacity of biomass-derived carbon materials

Biomass-derived carbon materials are considered potential lithium-ion anode materials because they are sustainable, renewable, economical, and environmentally friendly and have tunable microstructures. However, biomass-derived carbon materials have low specific capacity and show capacity degradation during long-term electrochemical cycling, which prevents their application in high-performance lithium-ion batteries. Hence, in this paper, nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NHPC) is synthesized from a biomass waste material, corncob, through one-step activation and carbonization procedures. N-doping in the NHPC modifies the electron distribution on the surface of carbon, resulting in the generation of additional lithium-ion storage sites and enhancing electrode wettability to increase the conductivity. Additionally, the doping procedure results in a hierarchical porous structure with an increased specific surface area and pore volume, which facilitates ion transport and provides remarkable cycling stability. The electrochemical performance of NHPC is improved by the jointly beneficial combination of N-doping and the hierarchical porous structure. The optimized NHPC electrode provides a reversible specific capacity of 700 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1. This study provides a simple and efficient method for improving the electrochemical properties of biomass-derived carbon materials through elemental doping and modulation of microscopic morphology and structure.

Engineering single-atom Mn on nitrogen-doped carbon to regulate lithium-peroxide reaction kinetics for rechargeable lithium-oxygen batteries

Precision engineering of catalytic sites to guide more favorable pathways for Li2O2 nucleation and decomposition represents an enticing kinetic strategy for mitigating overpotential, enhancing discharge capacity, and improving recycling stability of Li-O2 batteries. In this work, we employ metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) derivation and ion substitution strategies to construct atomically dispersed Mn-N4 moieties on hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon (Mn SAs-NC) with the aim of reducing the overpotential and improving the cycling stability of Li-O2 batteries. The porous structure provides more channels for mass transfer and exposes more highly active sites for electrocatalytic reactions, thus promoting the formation and decomposition of Li2O2. The Li-O2 batteries with Mn SAs-NC cathode achieve lower overpotential, higher specific capacity (14290 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1), and superior cycle stability (>100 cycles at 200 mA g−1) compared with the Mn NPs-NC and NC. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the construction of Mn-N4 moiety tunes the charge distribution of the pyridinic N-rich vacancy and balances the affinity of the intermediates (LiO2 and Li2O2). The initial nucleation of Li2O2 on Mn SAs-NC favors the O2 → LiO2 → Li2O2 surface-adsorption pathway, which mitigates the overpotentials of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). As a result, Mn SAs-NC with Mn-N4 moiety effectively facilitates the Li2O2 nucleation and enables its reversible decomposition. This work establishes a methodology for constructing carbon-based electrocatalysts with high activity and selectivity for Li-O2 batteries.

Encapsulating Sulfur into a Gel-Derived Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous and Microporous Carbon Sponge for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The practical application of Li-S batteries (LSBs) has long been impeded by the inefficient utilization of sulfur and slow kinetics. Utilizing conductive carbonaceous frameworks as a host scaffold presents an efficient and cost-effective approach to enhance sulfur utilization for redox reactions in LSBs. However, the interaction of pure carbon materials with lithium polysulfide intermediates (LiPSs) is limited to weak van der Waals forces. Hence, the development of an economical method for synthesizing heteroatom-doped carbon materials for sulfur fixation is of paramount importance. In this study, we introduce a hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon sponge (NPCS) with an exceptionally high BET surface area of 3182.2 m2 g-1, achieved through a facile template-assisted polymerization method. The incorporation of inorganic salts, free radical polymerization, and deuteric freeze-drying techniques facilitates the formation of hierarchical pores within the NPCS. After sulfur fixation, the resulting S/NPCS electrode demonstrates remarkable electrochemical performance in LSBs. Specifically, it achieves an 80% sulfur utilization rate, maintains a high reversible specific capacity of 400 mA h g-1 even after 600 cycles at a demanding current density of 5.0 A g-1, and exhibits superior rate capability. It is believed that this work will inspire the rational design of cost-effective carbon-based electrodes for high-performance LSBs.

Surface-coated AlF3 nanolayers enable polysulfide confinement within biomass-derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon microspheres for improved lithium-sulfur batteries

The electrically insulating and volumetric deformation of sulfur and the shuttle effect of the intermediate lithium polysulfide (LiPSs) have severely hindered the development of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, a synergistic strategy of hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon microspheres (PNCM) derived from low-cost biomass with surface-coated AlF3 nanolayer as a multifunctional sulfur host (denoted as PNCM@S@AlF3) was developed. The PNCM not only possesses an abundant pore structure, large surface area, and high electrical conductivity but also features an intrinsic N-doped and fluorinated framework, which effectively enhances the physical adsorption and chemical anchoring to LiPSs. In addition, the AlF3 nanolayer protects the open surface of the porous carbon to isolate sulfur species from the electrolyte to reduce irreversible losses while accelerating the redox kinetics of LiPSs through strong polar adsorption and bonding. Hence, the PNCM@S@AlF3 cathode exhibits an initial capacity as high as 1176.2 mAh/g at 0.2C, and the cycling stability and rate capability are superior to that of PNCM@S without AlF3 coating. Impressively, the PNCM@S@AlF3 cathode delivers stable long-term cycling performance at a high rate of 2C, with 95.6% capacity retention after 500 cycles. This work presents a facile, sustainable, and efficient synergistic strategy for developing advanced LSBs.

Lignin-derived nitrogen doped hierarchical porous carbon spheres for highly efficient dichloromethane adsorption

Biomass-prepared porous carbon materials are promising solid adsorbents for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, their application is hindered due to the insufficient number of pores and poor surface activity. In this study, a lignin-derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon sphere (NHPCS-0.5) with abundant surface active sites was synthesised through spray drying and carbonisation–activation methods. The optimised NHPCS-0.5 displayed a high BET specific surface area (2961 m2·g−1) and total pore volume (1.57 cm3·g−1), developed hierarchical porous distribution with micro-/meso-/macropores and satisfactory surface nitrogen content. Moreover, it exhibited an excellent dichloromethane adsorption capacity of 156 mg·g−1 and maintained 86% of initial capacity after five regeneration cycles, indicating an outstanding regenerative ability. The nitrogen introduction improved the micropore volume and adsorption capacity. Adsorption mechanism reveals that micropore filling and enhanced van der Waals interaction of carbon surface with dichloromethane molecule by N-containing functional groups played a vital role in adsorption, and mesopores contributed to the high adsorption rates. The above results indicate the potential of NHPCS-0.5 as an adsorbent for VOC removal and provide new ideas for the utilisation of lignin and design of carbon sphere materials.

Heterogenization-Activated Zinc Telluride via Rectifying Interfacial Contact to Afford Synergistic Confinement-Adsorption-Catalysis for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The notorious shuttle effect and sluggish conversion kinetics of intermediate polysulfides (Li2 S4 , Li2 S6 , Li2 S8 ) are severely hindered the large-scale development of Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Rectifying interface effect has been a solution to regulate the electron distribution of catalysts via interfacial charge exchange. Herein, a ZnTe-ZnO heterojunction encapsulated in nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (ZnTe-O@NC) derived from metal-organic framework is fabricated. Theoretical calculations and experiments prove that the built-in electric field constructed at ZnTe-ZnO heterojunction via the rectifying interface contact, thus promoting the charge transfer as well as enhancing adsorption and conversion kinetics toward polysulfides, thereby stimulating the catalytic activity of the ZnTe. Meanwhile, the nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon acts as confinement substrate also enables fast electrons/ions transport, combining with ZnTe-ZnO heterojunction realize a synergistic confinement-adsorption-catalysis toward polysulfides. As a result, the Li-S batteries with S/ZnTe-O@NC electrodes exhibit an impressive rate capability (639.7mAhg-1 at 3 C) and cycling performance (70% capacity retention at 1 C over 500 cycles). Even with a high sulfur loading, it still delivers a superior electrochemical performance. This work provides a novel perspective on designing highly catalytic materials to achieve synergistic confinement-adsorption-catalysis for high-performance Li-S batteries.

Low temperature and facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon derived from waste polyethylene terephthalate for efficient CO2 capture

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with high carbon content (>60 wt%) has shown great potential in the field of synthesizing carbon materials for CO2 capture, attracting increasing attention. Herein, an innovative strategy was proposed to synthesize nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (PC) for CO2 capture using PET as precursor and sodium amide (NaNH2) as both nitrogen dopant and low-temperature activator. As-synthesized N-doped PC exhibited a significantly high micropore volume of 0.755 cm3/g and a rich content of N- and O-containing functional groups, offering ample active sites for CO2 molecules. Further, the adsorbents demonstrated excellent CO2 capture capacity, achieving 5.7 mmol/g (0 °C) and 3.3 mmol/g (25 °C) at 1 bar, respectively. This was primarily attributed to the synergistic effect of narrow micropores filling and electrostatic interactions. Moreover, as-synthesized PC exhibited rapid CO2 adsorption capability, and its dynamic adsorption process was effectively described using a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. After five consecutive cycles, PET-derived PC still maintained ~100 % of adsorption capacity. They also possessed good CO2/N2 selectivity and reasonable isosteric heat of adsorption. Therefore, as-synthesized nitrogen-doped PC is a promising CO2 adsorbent through low-temperature activation of carbonized PET with NaNH2. Such findings have substantial implications for waste plastic recycling and mitigating the greenhouse effect.

Synthesis of Bi2O3/hierarchical porous carbon composites for supercapacitor application

Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) is considered a promising electrode material for supercapacitors boasting a high theoretical capacity. Its weak conductivity, limited rate performance, and poor cycling stability have significantly hindered practical applications. In this work, a simple precipitation and calcination method was used to prepare Bi2O3/hierarchical porous carbon composite materials (Bi2O3/N-HPC). The biomass-derived hierarchical porous carbon precursor was prepared through a process involving nitrogen doping and chemical activation. Comprehensive physical and chemical structure characterization results showed that a large number of spherical Bi2O3 particles were dispersed on the surface of the carbon material, providing numerous active sites for electrochemical reactions. The nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon scaffold provided rapid pathways for charge transfer and restricted the aggregation of Bi2O3 particles. As an electrode material in a 6 M KOH electrolyte, Bi2O3/N-HPC exhibited a specific capacitance of 684.9 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1, and even at an increased current density of 20 A g−1, the specific capacitance remained at 500.0 F g−1. After 10,000 cycles of charge and discharge, the capacitance retention rate of the Bi2O3/N-HPC electrode reached 85.2 %. This research offers a promising pathway for the development of high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials.

A hierarchical porous N-doped carbon material as catalyst derived from the folic acid-Zn/KBr hydrogel: Reaction network and kinetics and mechanism for the oxidation of furfural to maleic acid

A novel hydrogel (named FA-Zn/KBr) was prepared, by taking advantage of the hydrogen-bonding and π-π stacking interactions between the pterin heterocycles of the folic acid (FA) molecules. The hydrogel is composed of highly dispersed KBr, coordinated zinc ions, and stacked arrays of folate tetramers. Due to the presence of KBr, a hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon (PNC-800) material with a specific surface area 2807.9 m2/g can be formed through the calcination of the FA-Zn/KBr xerogel under N2. PNC-800 is used to catalyze the oxidation of furfural to maleic acid in the presence of H2O2. Representative nine reactions constitute the reaction network. The reaction rate constants and apparent activation energy were obtained for each reaction. Based on the kinetics parameters, the simulated results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The mechanism of the reaction catalyzed by PNC-800 is proposed based on ample experimental evidence. The graphitic nitrogen species in PNC-800 are the active sites. PNC-800 catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to generate hydroxyl radical (HȮ), which oxidizes furfural to furfural radical, and the furfural radical is subsequently converted to 5-hydroxy-furan-2(5H)-one (HFONE). The conversion of furfural to maleic acid via the formation of HFONE is the main reaction pathway. In addition, the hierarchical porous structure with a high specific surface area facilitates the interaction of reactant with the active sites. PNC-800 has been shown an excellent catalytic activity for the production of maleic acid from furfural. For the oxidation of 1000 mM furfural using 50 mg PNC-800 at 80 °C within 9 h, the conversion of furfural is 100 % with a maleic acid yield 67.5 %.

One-Step Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Derived from Biomass for Lithium-Ion Battery

Bamboo shoot is renewable biomass rich in carbon and nitrogen. To take advantage of its sources of carbon and nitrogen, hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon materials derived from bamboo shoot were acquired via a one-step method in this study. The obtained carbons were characterized by using XRD, Raman, N2 sorption, SEM, TEM, XPS, etc. The carbon calcinated at 700 °C with KHCO3 treatment (BSC) displays a large surface area (1475.5 m2 g−1) and typically porous structure from micro- to macropores, a self-nitrogen content, and many defects, which could offer transport channels and active sites for lithium ions while used as carbon anode. Based on the above features and the synergistic effects among them, BSC exhibits the typical electrochemical performance of a carbon-based anode material, with a specific capacity as high as 611.3 mA h g−1 (a Coulombic efficiency of 98.7%) after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g−1. Meanwhile, it also has a good rate performance and excellent cycling properties (436.1 mA h g−1 after 300 cycles at 0.1 A g−1) compared with NBSC (carbon directly carbonized at 700 °C). Thus, it is promising for further improvements made to porous carbon derived from biomass and used as anode in the application of energy storage, and could be a guideline for the preparation of high-value-added carbon materials derived from biomass.

N-doped EG@MOFs derived porous carbon composite phase change materials for thermal optimization of Li-ion batteries at low temperature

Electric vehicles often encounter the challenge of battery capacity reduction in cold environments. Existing thermal conductive patches and partial short-circuiting for electrical heating can address the above issues. In this paper, a method to increase battery capacity was proposed by phase change material (PCM) assisted heating. Specifically, a nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NPC) was synthesized through a combination of “low-temperature calcination + concentrated nitric acid treatment” to treat the chrysanthemum-shaped MOF-199@EG, and impregnated with stearic acid (SA) to form a stable composite PCM. With its well-developed pore structure and N-adsorbed active sites, the NPC prevents the leakage of molten SA, maintains stability effect and significantly improves the thermal properties of SA composites. The SA/NPC has a loading rate of 80.15 wt%, closely approaching the theoretical values of latent heat (137.89 J·g-1). It also demonstrates enhanced thermal conductivity (1.873 W·m-1·K-1) and thermal diffusivity (1.024 mm2·s-1). Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of SA/NPC are 8.56 times and 14.06 times higher, respectively, than those of SA. Furthermore, when the lithium-ion battery is discharged 2C at −20 °C, the utilization of SA/NPC as an insulation material can increase the discharge energy by 7.89 %. Consequently, this novel composite PCM holds significant promise for the thermal optimization of batteries at low temperature.

Design and preparation of hierarchical porous carbon-based materials with bionic “ant nest” structure for high performance asymmetric supercapacitors

Rational design of electrodes to broaden the working potential window is an attractive approach to improve the energy density of asymmetric supercapacitors. Herein, a simple non-solvent-induced phase separation method was used to construct a bionic "ant nest" three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) without any template, realizing a three-dimensional interlaced interconnection network structure similar to that of a natural ant nest, which adsorbs more ions through a larger accessible area and facilitates the bi-continuous transport of ions and electrons. Further, the aqueous asymmetric supercapacitor assembled with MnO2-modified HPC (HPC/MnO2) as the positive electrode and nitrogen-doped HPC (NHPC) as the negative electrode has an energy density as high as 21 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 410 W kg−1, and as high as 17 Wh kg−1 even at a power density of 13 kW kg−1. The device exhibits an excellent electrochemical performance over a potential window of 0–1.6 V.

MIL-53(Al) assisted in upcycling plastic bottle waste into nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

Disposable aluminum cans and plastic bottles are common wastes found in modern societies. This article shows that they can be upcycled into functional materials, such as metal-organic frameworks and hierarchical porous carbon nanomaterials for high-value applications. Through a solvothermal method, used poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottles and aluminum cans are converted into MIL-53(Al). Subsequently, the as-prepared MIL-53(Al) can be further carbonized into a nitrogen-doped (4.52 at%) hierarchical porous carbon framework. With an optical amount of urea present during the carbonization process, the carbon nanomaterial of a high specific surface area of 1324 m2 g−1 with well-defined porosity can be achieved. These features allow the nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon to perform impressively as the working electrode of supercapacitors, delivering a high specific capacitance of 355 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 in a three-electrode cell and exhibiting a high energy density of 20.1 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 225 W kg−1, while simultaneously maintaining 88.2% capacitance retention over 10,000 cycles in two-electrode system. This work demonstrates the possibility of upcycling wastes to obtain carbon-based high-performance supercapacitors.

Tailoring the hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon structures loaded single-atomic Ni catalyst for promoting CO2 electrochemical reduction at low CO2 concentration

Although direct reduction of exhaust gases into CO can enable significant economic benefits, the poor activity of CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) at low CO2 concentration seriously impedes its application. Herein, a series of Ni single atom sites/nitrogen doped porous carbon materials with different pore sizes were prepared to explore the effect of porosity on the local CO2 concentration in the electrocatalytic process of CO2RR. The results of characterization and experiments demonstrate that surface micropores generated by KOH activation are the key to creating the high local concentration of CO2 around active sites, helping facilitate the reaction kinetics at low CO2 concentration. Therefore, when the reaction is conducted under 20% diluted CO2 condition, the optimal activated macroporous sample exhibits up to nearly 1.3-fold higher faradaic efficiency of CO (FE(CO)) and a 1.7-fold higher of partial current density of CO (jCO) than similar samples without activation. These results offer new insight for designing efficient electrocatalysts for low-concentration CO2 reduction by constructing advanced porous structures.

Polymerization-Pyrolysis-Derived Hierarchical Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon for Energetic Capacitive Energy Storage

Polymerization-Pyrolysis-Derived Hierarchical Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon for Energetic Capacitive Energy Storage

Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons derived from biomass for oxygen reduction reaction.

Nowadays biomass has become important sources for the synthesis of different carbon nanomaterials due to their low cost, easy accessibility, large quantity, and rapid regeneration properties. Although researchers have made great effort to convert different biomass into carbons for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), few of these materials demonstrated good electrocatalytical performance in acidic medium. In this work, fresh daikon was selected as the precursor to synthesize three dimensional (3D) nitrogen doped carbons with hierarchical porous architecture by simple annealing treatment and NH3 activation. The daikon-derived material Daikon-NH3-900 exhibits excellent electrocatalytical performance towards oxygen reduction reaction in both alkaline and acidic medium. Besides, it also shows good durability, CO and methanol tolerance in different electrolytes. Daikon-NH3-900 was further applied as the cathode catalyst for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and shows promising performance with a peak power density up to 245W/g.

Preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon electrodes for high performance capacitive deionization

Preparation of nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon electrodes for high performance capacitive deionization

Hierarchical porous carbon nanofibers with facilely accessible iron-based active sites for efficient oxygen reduction in alkaline and acidic media

Reasonable design of hierarchically porous structures with mass transport maximization and highly accessible active sites still remains a great challenge. Herein, we successfully fabricated Fe3O4 nanoparticles embedded in the nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbon nanofibers as efficient and durable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which was synthesized by a stepwise electrospinning-pyrolysis strategy. The unique hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers could not only improve the dispersion and exposure of metal active sites, but also maximize the mass transport, thereby enhancing the accessibility of active sites and chemical reaction rate with efficient transport channels for reactants and products. Remarkably, the optimized sample (Fe3O4@Fe–N/HPCNF) displayed outstanding ORR activity with an onset potential of 0.99 V and a half-wave potential of 0.88 V in alkaline media, even comparable to that of commercial Pt/C. Additionally, Fe3O4@Fe–N/HPCNF catalyst also revealed excellent ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.75 V in acidic solution. More importantly, the optimal power density of Fe3O4@Fe–N/HPCNF assembled Zn-air battery can achieve 116 mW cm−2. The excellent electrocatalytic performance is benefited from the synergistic coupling between unique hierarchically porous carbon nanofibers and highly accessible Fe-based active sites.

Atomically Dispersed Isolated Fe–Ce Dual-Metal-Site Catalysts for Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Atomically dispersed single-metal-site catalysts are hailed as the most promising category for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with full metal utilization and complete exploitation of intrinsic activity. However, due to the inherent electronic structure of single-metal atoms in MNx, it is difficult to break the linear relationship between catalytic activity and adsorption energy of reaction intermediates, and the performance of such catalysts still falls short of expectations. Herein, we change the adsorption structure by constructing Fe-Ce atomic pairs to modulate the iron d-orbital electron configuration, breaking the linear relationship based on single-metal sites. The 4f cruise electrons of cerium element reduce the d-orbital center of iron in the synthesized FeCe-single atom dispersed hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon (FeCe-SAD/HPNC) catalyst, and more orbital-occupied states appear near the fermi level, which weakens the adsorption strength in the active center and oxygen species, so that the rate-determining step was shifted from *OH desorption to *O > *OH, rendering the excellent ORR performances of the FeCe-SAD/HPNC catalyst. The synthesized FeCe-SAD/HPNC catalyst shows excellent activity, with a half-wave potential as high as 0.81 V for ORR in 0.1 M HClO4 solution. Additionally, by constructing a three-phase reaction interface with a hierarchical porous structure, the H2-O2 proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) assembled with FeCe-SAD/HPNC as cathode catalyst achieves a maximum power density of 0.771 W cm-2 and good stability.

Constructing Co/Fe-Nx dual-site catalyst based on Co0.72Fe0.28 alloy nanoparticles anchored on hollow hierarchical porous carbon framework for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction and ZABs

Hollow hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon (HNC) derived from ZIF-8@ZIF-67 (ZIF: zeolitic-imidazolate framework) is a promising nanocomposite electrocatalyst rich in active sites. However, the single active species (Co-Nx) constrains its application. By introducing Fe in the precursor preparation, this work increased the active species of the catalyst to Co/Fe-Nx species and Co0.72Fe0.28 nanoparticles. Due to the advantages of abundant active sites and the synergy of multiple active species, Co,Fe-HNC-1 exhibited excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance in 0.1 M KOH electrolyte with an onset potential (Eonset = 0.92 V vs. RHE) and a half-wave potential (E1/2 = 0.85 V vs. RHE) comparable to those of commercial Pt/C, as well as better long-term stability and methanol resistance. Meanwhile, Co,Fe-HNC-1 additionally demonstrated oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity. Co,Fe-HNC-1 also performed well as an air cathode in a zinc-air battery (ZAB) with a peak power density of 85.00 mW cm-2 and outstanding stability with only 1.8 % loss after more than 200 galvanostatic cycles at 10 mA cm-2. This work provides a new perspective for the rational design and preparation of electrocatalysts based on HNC nanocomposites.