A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling

Nan Li; Mingzi Sun; Qilin Pan; Ruxia Zhang; Hang Lou; Weimao Zhu; Chao Xie; Yahui Yang; Bolong Huang; Wenjun Zhang; Hao Jiang

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-70736-1

A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling

Nan Li
, Mingzi Sun
, Qilin Pan
, Ruxia Zhang
, Hang Lou
, Weimao Zhu
, Chao Xie
, Yahui Yang^*
, Bolong Huang^*
, Wenjun Zhang^*
, Hao Jiang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

1 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) face two critical challenges: (1) slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions; and (2) the thermodynamic incompatibility of OER and ORR occurring concurrently on a single air cathode. To address these limitations, we propose in this study a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery (D-ZEAB) that spatially decouples ORR and the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) onto separate cathodes, enabling concurrent electricity generation and electroreforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into high-value C₂ chemicals. Furthermore, we develop a bifunctional catalyst composed of defect-rich subnanometer-thick PdCuCo trimetallenes to enhance both EGOR and ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the decoupled cathode configuration and the bifunctional PdCuCo catalyst, the D-ZEAB demonstrates an energy conversion efficiency of 91.7%, a long cycle life of 1696 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of >93% for GA production. This work not only presents a promising strategy for advancing the zinc-air battery technology but also offers a sustainable route for simultaneous energy storage and plastic waste upcycling. © The Author(s) 2026.

Original language	English
Article number	4018
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Online published	16 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70736-1
Publication status	Online published - 16 Mar 2026

Funding

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52304327, H. J., No. 52474327, Y. Y., and No. 52172241, W. Z.), project of Yuelushan Center for Industrial Innovation (No. 2025YCⅡ0122/2025PT3021, Y. Y.), the General Research Fund of Hong Kong (CityU 11315622 and CityU11310123, W. Z.), and the Scientific Research Fund of Hunan Provincial Education Department (No. 25A0091, H. J.). The authors thank Scientific Compass (www.shiyanjia.com) for the ICP tests.

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This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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title = "A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling",

abstract = "Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) face two critical challenges: (1) slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions; and (2) the thermodynamic incompatibility of OER and ORR occurring concurrently on a single air cathode. To address these limitations, we propose in this study a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery (D-ZEAB) that spatially decouples ORR and the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) onto separate cathodes, enabling concurrent electricity generation and electroreforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into high-value C2 chemicals. Furthermore, we develop a bifunctional catalyst composed of defect-rich subnanometer-thick PdCuCo trimetallenes to enhance both EGOR and ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the decoupled cathode configuration and the bifunctional PdCuCo catalyst, the D-ZEAB demonstrates an energy conversion efficiency of 91.7\%, a long cycle life of 1696 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of >93\% for GA production. This work not only presents a promising strategy for advancing the zinc-air battery technology but also offers a sustainable route for simultaneous energy storage and plastic waste upcycling. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

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T1 - A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling

AU - Li, Nan

AU - Sun, Mingzi

AU - Pan, Qilin

AU - Zhang, Ruxia

AU - Lou, Hang

AU - Zhu, Weimao

AU - Xie, Chao

AU - Yang, Yahui

AU - Huang, Bolong

AU - Zhang, Wenjun

AU - Jiang, Hao

PY - 2026/3/16

Y1 - 2026/3/16

N2 - Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) face two critical challenges: (1) slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions; and (2) the thermodynamic incompatibility of OER and ORR occurring concurrently on a single air cathode. To address these limitations, we propose in this study a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery (D-ZEAB) that spatially decouples ORR and the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) onto separate cathodes, enabling concurrent electricity generation and electroreforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into high-value C2 chemicals. Furthermore, we develop a bifunctional catalyst composed of defect-rich subnanometer-thick PdCuCo trimetallenes to enhance both EGOR and ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the decoupled cathode configuration and the bifunctional PdCuCo catalyst, the D-ZEAB demonstrates an energy conversion efficiency of 91.7%, a long cycle life of 1696 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of >93% for GA production. This work not only presents a promising strategy for advancing the zinc-air battery technology but also offers a sustainable route for simultaneous energy storage and plastic waste upcycling. © The Author(s) 2026.

AB - Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) face two critical challenges: (1) slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction (ORR) and oxygen evolution (OER) reactions; and (2) the thermodynamic incompatibility of OER and ORR occurring concurrently on a single air cathode. To address these limitations, we propose in this study a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery (D-ZEAB) that spatially decouples ORR and the ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) onto separate cathodes, enabling concurrent electricity generation and electroreforming of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into high-value C2 chemicals. Furthermore, we develop a bifunctional catalyst composed of defect-rich subnanometer-thick PdCuCo trimetallenes to enhance both EGOR and ORR kinetics. Benefiting from the decoupled cathode configuration and the bifunctional PdCuCo catalyst, the D-ZEAB demonstrates an energy conversion efficiency of 91.7%, a long cycle life of 1696 h, and a Faradaic efficiency of >93% for GA production. This work not only presents a promising strategy for advancing the zinc-air battery technology but also offers a sustainable route for simultaneous energy storage and plastic waste upcycling. © The Author(s) 2026.

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A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling

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GRF: A "Water-in-ionic Liquid" Electrolyte for Aqueous Supercapacitors with High Energy Density and High Power Density

GRF: Dilute Aqueous/aprotic Electrolytes with Broad Electrochemical Windows for Zn-ion hybrid Supercapacitors

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A dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery for concurrent electricity generation and plastic waste upcycling

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

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GRF: A "Water-in-ionic Liquid" Electrolyte for Aqueous Supercapacitors with High Energy Density and High Power Density

GRF: Dilute Aqueous/aprotic Electrolytes with Broad Electrochemical Windows for Zn-ion hybrid Supercapacitors

Cite this