The design of efficient oxygen reductionreaction (ORR) catalyst with fast kinetics is crucial for high-performance Zn–air batteries but remains a challenge. Herein, inspired by the oxidative respiratory chain of prokaryotes, an ORR electrocatalyst is reported by mimicking the microstructure of Staphylococcus aureus and simitaneously utilizing this low-cost cell as the precursor. The catalyst consists of MnO₂/Co₂P nanocomposites support on Staphylococcus aureus-derived hollow spherical carbon, which not only accelerates electron transfer for improved intrinsic reaction kinetics, but also creates an OH⁻ concentration gradient for enhanced mass transfer efficiency. Such bio-inspired and derived ORR catalyst enables rechargeable Zn–air batteries with ultra-long cycling stability of more than 2800 h at a high capacity of 810.3 mAh g⁻¹, which is superior among the reported bio-derived oxygen catalysts. A flexible Zn–air battery based on the bio-inspired and derived catalyst is also assembled, and it well integrates with a wireless flexible electronic skin.

Aqueous zinc battery promotes great interest due to its high safety and significant energy density. However, the Zn anode shows severity of dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Addressing these challenges requires effective manipulation of the inner Helmholtz plane (IHP). Thereby, we secure a novel strategy for generating water-locking IHP through the in-situ growth of a hygroscopic Zn-ethanolamine (Zn-EA) protective layer on the Zn surface. This layer forms via coordination between ZnCl₂ salt and ethanolamine, effectively reducing the intermediate/free water. Moreover, ethanolamine contains zincophilic sites (C–O and –NH₂) further promote the uniform Zn deposition. The in-situ Raman confirms the ability of the hygroscopic layer to lock the active water away from the Zn surface. Therefore, Zn-EA@Zn anode exhibits an impressive life stability of 288 h at 20 mA cm⁻² and 20 mAh cm⁻² with an extended lifespan of 2100 h at 1 mA cm⁻² and 1 mAh cm⁻². Furthermore, the Zn-EA@Zn||Cu demonstrates 100% Coulombic efficiency over 4275 cycles, while Zn-EA@Zn ||V₂O₃/NC full cell retains a specific capacity of 170 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ after 1000 cycles, and the pouch cell maintains 0.5 mAh cm⁻² after 460 cycles at 2 mA cm⁻². Therefore, this approach is paving the way for the development of advanced zinc metal batteries.