Rechargeable zinc-air battery used for energy storage has a serious problem of charging capacity limited by oxygen bubble coalescence. Fast removal of oxygen bubbles adhered to the charging electrode surface is of great importance for improving the charging performance of the battery. Here we show that the law of oxygen bubble growth can be achieved by means of phase-field simulation, revealing two phenomena of bubble detachment and bubble coalescence located in the charging electrode on both sides. Hydrodynamic electrolyte and partial insulation structure of the charging electrode are investigated to solve the problem of oxygen bubble coalescence during charging. Two types of rechargeable zinc-air battery are developed on the basis of different tri-electrode configurations, demonstrating that the charging performance of the battery with electrolyte flow (I) is better than that of the battery with the partially insulated electrode (II), while the battery II is superior to the battery I in the discharging performance, cost and portability. The proposed solutions and results would be available for promoting commercial application of rechargeable zinc-air batteries or other metal-air batteries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.