Honeycomb‐Like N, P‐Codoped Carbon Derived From Waste Poplar Wood as a High‐Performance Air Cathode for Rechargeable Zn‐Air Batteries

ABSTRACT The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode hinder the development of zinc‐air batteries (ZABs). Herein, a nitrogen and phosphorus dual‐doped honeycomb‐like carbon (K‐NPCW‐900) derived from waste wood is fabricated to boost oxygen activation efficiency and enhance ZABs performance. Potassium hydroxide‐assisted high‐temperature pyrolysis converted poplar wood into a three‐dimensional honeycomb‐like carbon architecture with high microporosity and large specific surface area, exposing active sites and facilitating mass transport. Density functional theory reveals that asymmetric N─C─P sites inject more electrons than N─C into the O 2 antibonding orbitals, elongating O─O bond to 1.53 Å, facilitating O 2 activation. These sites optimize oxygen‐intermediate adsorption, shifting the rate‐determining step from * OOH on N─C to * O reduction. K‐NPCW‐900 exhibits a high half‐wave potential of 0.835 V, indicating favorable electrocatalytic performance. The K‐NPCW‐900‐assembled ZABs deliver a high specific capacity of 797.12 mAh g −1 and stable cycling for 550 h at room temperature. Impressively, the ZABs retain robust cycling at elevated temperatures of 40°C and 60°C, achieving peak power densities of 180.62 and 265.93 mW cm −2 . This work demonstrates a compositional and structural engineering strategy to convert waste woody biomass into value‐added carbon electrodes, facilitating sustainable ZABs development.