A material that lets fuel cells run cool could cut the cost of clean power

Fuel cells that turn hydrogen into electricity usually need fierce heat — 700°C or more — which wears materials out and drives up cost. A team led by Masatomo Yashima at the Institute of Science Tokyo has found a new material, a layered compound called a Sillén oxybromide, that carries oxygen ions exceptionally fast at just 233°C, inside a long-standing temperature gap where few materials work. Published in Nature Communications, it also stayed chemically stable and barely expanded — the practical traits a cooler, cheaper fuel cell needs.

SDG 7 · Affordable and clean energy — Mechanism: tech innovation