Scientists Discover 'Hidden Materials' for Better Batteries and Solar Fuels
An international research team identified hidden material structures during thermal decomposition that could advance battery and solar fuel technology, including a form of bismuth vanadate with improved photovoltaic properties.
Newsnibs Staff
- 2026-10-15
- Updated 11:30 PM UTC
An international research team that included Dr. Sebastian Pike of the University of Warwick and Dr. Dominik Kubicki of the University of Birmingham has identified previously unknown material structures by studying the fleeting intermediate stages of thermal decomposition, according to a study published in Nature Communications on Wednesday.
Scientists studying how heat transforms one material into another typically focus on the starting substance and the final product, treating the steps in between as a brief, uninteresting transition. The new study argues those in-between stages deserve closer attention, since they can contain structures not previously catalogued.
The researchers tracked these transitions using customized "single-source precursors," which let them follow changes in molecular bonds as a material heated and reorganized itself.
Applying that method to bismuth vanadate, the team isolated a kinetically stabilized form of the compound that has a significantly wider band gap than the standard version. Standard bismuth vanadate is already valued for having a band gap well matched to absorbing sunlight and splitting water into hydrogen fuel.
The team also captured a separate transient phase during decomposition that showed high-capacity lithium storage. The researchers said this phase shows immediate promise for next-generation battery architectures.
Photo by Roberto Sorin on Unsplash
