Biomass‐Derived Catalytically Active Carbon Materials for the Air Electrode of Zn‐air Batteries

Given the growing environmental and energy problems, developing clean, renewable electrochemical energy storage devices is of great interest. Zn–air batteries (ZABs) have broad prospects in energy storage because of their high specific capacity and environmental friendliness. The reason that hinders the large‐scale application of ZABs is the lack of cheap air materials and efficient and stable catalysts to catalyze air electrodes. Due to the abundant biomass resources, self‐doped heteroatoms, and unique pore structure, biomass‐derived catalytically active carbon materials (CACs) have great potential to prepare carbon‐based catalysts and porous electrodes with excellent performance for ZABs. This paper reviews the research progress of biomass‐derived CACs applied to ZABs air electrodes. Specifically, the principle of ZABs and the source and preparation method of biomass‐derived CACs are introduced. To efficiently prepare biomass‐based oxygen electrocatalysts, heteroatom doping and transition metal modification were introduced to improve the efficiency and stability of carbon materials. Finally, the effects of electron transfer number and H2O2 yield in ORR on the performance of ZABs were evaluated. This review aims to deepen the understanding of the advantages and challenges of s in the air electrodes of ZABs, promote more comprehensive research on biomass resources, and accelerate the commercial application of ZABs.