Multifunctional complex hydrides for tomorrow’s energy solutions
As an energy vector hydrogen is one of the main contenders to solve issues controlling the transition to a sustainable energy society, one of the prime challenges of the 21st century.
An international team of researchers from the universities of Geneva, Aarhus and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, have recently introduced rational materials design to complex hydrides, thanks to the discovery of a large family of perovskite-type borohydrides. The investigated functionalities include extreme hydrogen densities targeting solid state hydrogen storage, but also address further energy-related applications making use of particular structural dynamics related to the BH4- anion, which promote superionic conduction in solid state electrolytes. The highly efficient investigated lanthanide luminescence of these materials furthermore makes them attractive candidates for solid state phosphors which have potential in LED-based lighting.
The new family of materials comprises more than 30 compounds discovered by the principal researcher of this project, Pascal Schouwink (group Prof. R. Černý, DQMP, UNIGE). The results have been published in Nature Communications.
