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News: Scientists have developed TTT-DHTD, a metal-free material that performs nearly as well as platinum in zinc-air batteries.
About Zinc-air (Zn-air) Batteries
- A zinc-air battery is a metal-air electrochemical cell that generates electricity by oxidizing zinc using oxygen from the surrounding air.
- Anode (Zinc): A porous mass of zinc particles saturated with an alkaline electrolyte (usually potassium hydroxide, KOH).
- Cathode (Air): An open structure that absorbs oxygen from the air, using a catalyst (like manganese or carbon) to reduce the oxygen.
- Working Mechanism:
- Oxygen from air reacts at the electrode through oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to generate electricity.
- The battery uses oxygen directly from air, so it does not need to store an active cathode material.
- The efficiency of the ORR strongly affects the battery’s performance.
- Advantages: They have the potential for higher theoretical energy density, lower material cost, improved safety and greater sustainability than lithium-ion batteries.
- Challenges: Rechargeability, cycle life and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics remain major challenges.
About TTT-DHTD Material
- TTT-DHTD is a metal-free organic porous material.
- Purpose: It was developed as an alternative to platinum-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts.
- Developed by: It was developed collaboratively by researchers from the S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata; the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali; and SRM University, Amaravati.
- Composition: It is made from carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and hydrogen.
- Building blocks: It is synthesized using TTT (2,4,6-tris(4-aminophenyl)-1,3,5-triazine) and DHTD (4,8-dioxo-4,8-dihydrobenzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene-2,6-dicarbaldehyde) linkers.
- Structure: These linkers form an ultra-porous, honeycomb-like covalent organic framework (COF).
- Key Features:
- Performance: In laboratory tests, TTT-DHTD performed almost as well as platinum in helping oxygen react to generate electricity, achieving about 96% of platinum’s performance.
- Stability: It maintained its performance after 120 hours of continuous operation.
- Molecular Structure: Its structure creates favourable sites for oxygen molecules to attach and react.
- Metal-free: It works without using precious metals.
- Applications: TTT-DHTD could support Zn-air cells, clean transportation, portable power systems and renewable-energy storage.
