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The lithium oxygen (Li–O₂) battery is one of the most promising technologies among various electrochemical energy storage systems. The challenge to develop a high-performance Li–O₂ battery lies in exploring an air electrode with optimal porous structure and high efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst. The present work demonstrates a bioinspired synthesis route for the preparation of high performance Li–O₂ air electrode materials that are made out of N-doped carbon foams decorated with heteronanostructured MoO₂/Mo₂C nanocrystals (MoO₂/Mo₂C@3D NCF). Here, recombinant proteins (ELK16-FLAG) facilitated the self-assembly of metal precursors and provided a carbon source for Mo₂C formation. The as-prepared MoO₂/Mo₂C@3D NCF showed superior electrocatalytic activity in both oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reaction mechanisms with a high round-trip efficiency of 89.1% (2.77 V/3 …