(Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Storage Technologies, College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)
Increasingly serious environmental pollution and exhausting energy crisis become the biggest obstacle in the process of sustainable development of human society. As a potential electrochemical energy storage device, zinc-air batteries (ZABs) received considerable interest in the field of energy storage because of their high energy density and environmental friendliness. However, the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions limit the commercial development of ZABs, so there is an urgent need to develop efficient and low-cost non-noble metal bifunctional catalysts. Electrospun onedimensional (1D) nanofibers with unique properties such as high porosity and large specific surface area have a profound impact on providing more active sites, shortening the diffusion pathways for ions/electrons, and improving the kinetics vis-à-vis intercalation/de-intercalation of the active substrate, which endow them with promising application in the field of energy storage devices, especially ZABs. This review first introduces the electrospinning technique and the oxygen reduction/evolution reaction activity of electrospun nanofibers with a self-supported structure, as well as the application of electrospun nanofibers in the liquid and flexible solid-state ZABs, which would demonstrate the superiority of electrospinning technique towards ZABs. Finally, the remaining challenges and research directions of ZABs based on electrospun nanofibers electrocatalysts are shortly discussed.