A new crystal moves oxygen ions fast at kitchen-oven temperatures

Solid oxide fuel cells make electricity cleanly from fuel — but they only work when heated to 700–1,000°C, hot enough to wear out their own materials and drive up costs. A Japan–UK team led by Masatomo Yashima at the Institute of Science Tokyo has found a crystal, a Sillén oxybromide, that shuffles oxygen ions briskly at just 233°C — a temperature range where almost no material has performed this well. Published in Nature Communications, the discovery points toward fuel cells and related devices that run cooler, last longer and cost less to build.

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