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

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. Conventional rechargeable zinc-air batteries face slow kinetics and thermodynamic incompatibility. Here, the authors propose a dual-cathode zinc-ethylene glycol/air battery, enabling concurrent efficient electricity generation and electro-reforming of plastic wastes into high-value C2 chemicals.