Advancing Flexible Zinc Air Battery: Exploring Non‐Noble Metal Oxides for Enhanced Electronic Structure Modulation in Scalable Engineering Design

Advancing flexible zinc-air batteries requires cost-effective, durable bifunctional catalysts capable of efficiently driving both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, we report a scalable reflux-calcination strategy to prepare hierarchical flower-like Fe-Mo oxides (FeMoO). The engineered Fe-O-Mo interactions effectively tune the electronic structure, lower adsorption energy barriers, and accelerate charge-transfer kinetics. Among the series, Fe<sub>0.25</sub>Mo<sub>0.75</sub>O (FeMoO-III) exhibited excellent OER activity with an overpotential of 240 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and remarkable stability exceeding 200 h at 50 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. Concurrently, ORR studies revealed a high half-wave potential (0.86 V) and outstanding durability, confirming its bifunctional performance. When integrated into a rechargeable zinc-air battery, FeMoO-III delivered a high open-circuit voltage of 1.51 V and sustained charge-discharge cycling over 175 h. Moreover, in a flexible quasi-solid-state zinc-air battery, the FeMoO-III cathode maintained stable operation for more than 56 h at 5 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, underscoring its suitability for wearable energy devices. This work demonstrates that rational modulation of non-noble oxide electronic structures through Fe-Mo synergy offers a practical pathway toward scalable, high-performance, and flexible zinc-air batteries.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-01-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202512027
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Advancing Flexible Zinc Air Battery: Exploring Non‐Noble Metal Oxides for Enhanced Electronic Structure Modulation in Scalable Engineering Design

Anoopa Ann Thomas, Mohan Raj Subramaniam, Vijayapradeep Subramanian, DONG JIN YOO et al.
Small
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

Advancing Flexible Zinc Air Battery: Exploring Non‐Noble Metal Oxides for Enhanced Electronic Structure Modulation in Scalable Engineering Design

Anoopa Ann Thomas, Mohan Raj Subramaniam, Vijayapradeep Subramanian, DONG JIN YOO, Muthu Austeria P, S.C. Karthikeyan
article en

Abstract

Advancing flexible zinc-air batteries requires cost-effective, durable bifunctional catalysts capable of efficiently driving both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, we report a scalable reflux-calcination strategy to prepare hierarchical flower-like Fe-Mo oxides (FeMoO). The engineered Fe-O-Mo interactions effectively tune the electronic structure, lower adsorption energy barriers, and accelerate charge-transfer kinetics. Among the series, Fe<sub>0.25</sub>Mo<sub>0.75</sub>O (FeMoO-III) exhibited excellent OER activity with an overpotential of 240 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and remarkable stability exceeding 200 h at 50 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. Concurrently, ORR studies revealed a high half-wave potential (0.86 V) and outstanding durability, confirming its bifunctional performance. When integrated into a rechargeable zinc-air battery, FeMoO-III delivered a high open-circuit voltage of 1.51 V and sustained charge-discharge cycling over 175 h. Moreover, in a flexible quasi-solid-state zinc-air battery, the FeMoO-III cathode maintained stable operation for more than 56 h at 5 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, underscoring its suitability for wearable energy devices. This work demonstrates that rational modulation of non-noble oxide electronic structures through Fe-Mo synergy offers a practical pathway toward scalable, high-performance, and flexible zinc-air batteries.

SmallVol. 22(15)
Jain University (IN), Jeonju National University of Education (KR), KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology (IN), Jeonbuk National University (KR)
Ministry of Education, India, Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 75%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Advancing Flexible Zinc Air Battery: Exploring Non‐Noble Metal Oxides for Enhanced Electronic Structure Modulation in Scalable Engineering Design — Anoopa Ann Thomas, Mohan Raj Subramaniam, et al. · Small (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS