Oxford physicists found a solar material that breaks the oldest trade-off in the book

Solar cells face a cruel bargain: materials that soak up sunlight best usually lose the resulting electrical charges almost immediately. University of Oxford researchers showed that bismuth sulfide escapes the bargain — it absorbs light strongly while its charges linger in a kind of energy reservoir, cutting charge loss by about 75% compared with similar absorbers. Professor Laura Herz, the study's corresponding author, calls it a new design principle for solar materials. The work is published in Nature; the team cautions it is a mechanism, not yet a ready-made solar cell.

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