Self-assembly formation of Bi-functional Co3O4/MnO2-CNTs hybrid catalysts for achieving both high energy/power density and cyclic ability of rechargeable zinc-air battery

α-MnO2 nanotubes-supported Co3O4 (Co3O4/MnO2) and its carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-hybrids (Co3O4/MnO2-CNTs) have been successfully developed through a facile two-pot precipitation reaction and hydrothermal process, which exhibit the superior bi-functional catalytic activity for both ORR and OER. The high performance is believed to be induced by the hybrid effect among MnO2 nanotubes, hollow Co3O4 and CNTs, which can produce a synergetic enhancement. When integrated into the practical primary and electrochemically rechargeable Zn-air batteries, such a hybrid catalyst can give a discharge peak power density as high as 450 mW cm(-2). At 1.0 V of cell voltage, a current density of 324 mA cm(-2) is achieved. This performance is superior to all reported non-precious metal catalysts in literature for zinc-air batteries and significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art platinum-based catalyst. Particularly, the rechargeable Zn-air battery can be fabricated into all-solid-state one through a simple solid-state approach, which exhibits an excellent peak power density of 62 mW cm(-2), and the charge and discharge potentials remain virtually unchanged during the overall cycles, which is comparable to the one with liquid electrolyte.