Scientists have determined the structure of a new material with potential to be used in solar energy, batteries, and splitting water to produce hydrogen.
The physical properties and crystal structures of most tellurate materials were only discovered during the last two decades, but they have tantalizing properties. For example, they respond to light in a way very similar to current solar materials.
“This could be one material for all applications,” says University of Oulu scientist Dr. Harishchandra Singh. “But they are new and very little is known in the literature. We are am trying to explore all its unexplored and hidden properties.”
Identifying the structure of new materials is often the first step to unlocking their potential for applications. The international team, led by Matthias Weil (Vienna University of Technology) and Dr. Singh, successfully created a single crystal of a metal tellurate compound, making it possible to precisely define its structure with better accuracy than ever before.
The pair used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan to understand how the material works under real world conditions. A longtime user of the facility, Singh knew that the Brockhouse beamline could help confirm the structural details they had uncovered.
Read more on CLS website