- Why in news
- On 7 October 2026, the Ministry of Science & Technology reported a metal-free porous catalyst, TTT-DHTD, made by DST institute researchers. It works almost as well as platinum in zinc–air batteries.
- Developers
- Researchers from SNBNCBS Kolkata, INST Mohali (both DST institutes) and SRM University, Amaravati made it.
- Performance
- The catalyst reached about 96% of the performance of commercial platinum catalysts.
- Composition
- It uses only abundant elements: carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and hydrogen.
- Zn–air battery principle
- Oxygen from the air reacts at the electrode through the ORR, so no active cathode material needs to be stored.
- Journal
- The work was published in Science Advances.
Don’t confuse with Zn–air battery vs hydrogen fuel cell: Both depend on oxygen electrochemistry. A Zn–air battery stores energy in zinc and needs no high-pressure hydrogen storage; a fuel cell needs hydrogen supply.
Don’t confuse with Catalyst vs electrode material: The catalyst speeds up the ORR at the air electrode. It is not the zinc anode, which is consumed.
Science and technology: 57 Prelims questions since 2013; most test the concept behind the news, not the news itself. In Mains, 12 news-triggered questions.
Why it matters
- Replacing platinum can cut the cost of clean-energy devices and reduce dependence on a scarce metal.
- Zn–air batteries use abundant zinc and promise higher theoretical energy density and safety than Li-ion batteries.
Problems
- Rechargeability, cycle life and ORR kinetics of Zn–air batteries remain unresolved.
- Results are laboratory-scale; 120 hours of stable operation is far short of commercial needs.
Way forward
- Scale up synthesis and test in practical rechargeable cells for longer durations.
- Support industry–institute partnerships to move such materials toward pilot production.
Put in your answer
Platinum dependence: Many clean-energy technologies, especially hydrogen fuel cells, rely on platinum, which is rare and costly, as the ORR catalyst.
Stability data: The catalyst held performance for 120 hours of continuous operation.
- 2010Prelims Q36Which substance is the exhaust of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles? Water (H2O)
- 2024Prelims Q37Which exhaust emission comes from hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles? Water vapour
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Concept-based topic (oxygen reduction, fuel cells); sci-tech concepts are asked often (36 of 57 questions) but this is a research result with few facts.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.