A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41839903.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-70736-1.
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Abstract
Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) face two critical challenges: (1) slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions; and (2) the thermodynamic incompatibility of OER and ORR occurring concurrently on a single air cathode. To address these limitations, we propose in this study a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery (D-ZEAB) that spatially decouples ORR and the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) onto separate cathodes, enabling concurrent electricity generation and electroreforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into high-value C<sub>2</sub> chemicals. Furthermore, we develop a bifunctional catalyst composed of defect-rich subnanometer-thick PdCuCo trimetallenes to enhance both EGOR and ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the decoupled cathode configuration and the bifunctional PdCuCo catalyst, the D-ZEAB demonstrates an energy conversion efficiency of 91.7%, a long cycle life of 1696 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of >93% for GA production. This work not only presents a promising strategy for advancing the zinc-air battery technology but also offers a sustainable route for simultaneous energy storage and plastic waste upcycling.