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The goal of achieving the large-scale production of zero-emission vehicles by 2035 will create high expectations for electric vehicle (EV) development and availability. Currently, a major problem is the lack of suitable batteries and battery materials in large quantities. The rechargeable zinc–air battery (RZAB) is a promising energy-storage technology for EVs due to the environmental friendliness and low production cost. Herein, iron, cobalt, and nickel phthalocyanine tri-doped electrospun carbon nanofibre-based (FeCoNi-CNF) catalyst material is presented as an affordable and promising alternative to Pt-group metal (PGM)-based catalyst. The FeCoNi-CNF-coated glassy carbon electrode showed an oxygen reduction reaction/oxygen evolution reaction reversibility of 0.89 V in 0.1 M KOH solution. In RZAB, the maximum discharge power density (Pmax) of 120 mW cm−2 was obtained with FeCoNi-CNF, which is 86% of the Pmax measured with the PGM-based catalyst. Furthermore, during the RZAB charge–discharge cycling, the FeCoNi-CNF air electrode was found to be superior to the commercial PGM electrocatalyst in terms of operational durability and at least two times higher total life-time.

A Pt‐free cathode catalyst is necessary for proton‐exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to enable the widespread use of these environmentally friendly energy conversion devices at affordable price. Herein, a pyrolyzed electrospun carbon nanofibre (CNF) catalyst is prepared embedded with cobalt(II) phthalocyanine and iron(II) phthalocyanine compounds to provide the transition metal N4‐macrocyclic complex‐derived sites (MNX) possessing better electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. The physical characterisation showed the nanofibrous structure of catalyst with rough surface texture and considerable amount of N, Fe, and Co. The D−MN4−CNF−IL−A catalyst prepared using ionic liquid as a porogen displayed the best electrocatalytic activity for O2 electroreduction proceeding via 4e− pathway in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution with the ORR onset and half‐wave potential of 0.83 and 0.71 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), respectively.