This work involved the development of a high energy density flexible zinc-air battery by means of an inexpensive screen-printing technique. A very thin and highly porous cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) fabricated by screen-printing of carbon black ink promoted oxygen permeability, resulting in a better and more efficient three-phase reaction zone. Moreover, a cathode current collector (printed using nano-silver ink) also functioned as a catalyst layer. The incorporation of this layer enabled the printed battery to be capable of high rates of discharge by promoting oxygen reduction reaction which has a decisive impact on its performance. The thickness of the GDL can be manipulated by adjusting the composition of the carbon black ink. The fabricated battery with 30 mu m GDL provided an open-circuit voltage of 1.45 V and 15 - 185 mA.cm(-2) ohmic loss zone and demonstrated high energy density of 682 Wh.kg(-1). Furthermore, the battery was tested for its flexibility by bending it and discharging it at 2.0 mA.cm(-2). The results showed that upon bending, the battery showed no difference in characteristics of voltage or discharging time. (C) The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. All rights reserved.