The rapidly increasing demand for
clean and efficient energy devices
is a critical issue for the sustainable development of human society.
The green and low-cost aqueous zinc–air batteries (ZABs) with
high theoretical energy density are therefore drawing increasing attention.
As the key materials in the air cathode, electrocatalysts that catalyze
the oxygen evolution/reaction reactions (OER and ORR) significantly
determine the performance of ZABs. Therefore, exploring economic and
efficient oxygen catalysts is of great importance for the practical
application of ZABs. Among the numerous electrocatalysts, the earth-abundant
3d transition-metal-based nanomaterials have been widely explored
as a result of their low cost and high activities. This review introduces
some typical and recent progresses in 3d metal-based oxygen catalysts
(i.e., metals, metal compounds, and carbon-supported hybrids) for
ZABs. Especially, the active sites for catalyzing OER/ORR of different
catalysts are classified, and the strategies for regulating the catalytic
sites and their reaction mechanism are also introduced. In the end,
the challenges and perspectives for further developing 3d metal-based
oxygen catalysts are briefly discussed. This review aims to provide
inspirations for the exploration of low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts
as cathodes for ZABs.