Tuning the electronic state of CoFe alloy via in-situ partial Co nitridation for enhanced oxygen electrocatalysis in zinc-air battery.

The low catalytic activity and high susceptibility to corrosion of CoFe alloys limit their efficiency and stability in oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER/ORR). Here, via a partial nitridation strategy, CoN is in-situ formed adjacent to CoFe alloy to construct a well-defined heterointerface within N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotube (CoN-CoFe/NCNT). As indicated by computational calculations, the interfacial electrons are transferred from Fe atom to CoN in the CoN-CoFe heterojunction, optimizing the adsorption of O-intermediates and accelerating the rate-determining steps (*O to *OH in ORR and *O to *OOH in OER).