A new man-made crystal that can “breathe” oxygen may be a game changer for energy efficiency and the clean energy transition. The material is made from an oxide of strontium, iron, and cobalt, and when heated in a simple gas environment, the thin film crystal has been observed to release and then reabsorb oxygen, much like a human lung. Moreover, it can repeat the action over and over without breaking down. The potential applications of such a material are vast, and could be instrumental in the clean energy transition.
“It is like giving the crystal lungs and it can inhale and exhale oxygen on command,” says Professor Hyoungjeen Jeen. Jeen, a physics professor at Pusan National University in South Korea, co-authored the study along with Professor Hiromichi Ohta from the Research Institute for Electronic Science at Hokkaido University in Japan. Their remarkable findings of the crystal, which has the formula SrFe0.5Co0.5O2.5, were published in a scientific paper in the journal Nature Communications earlier this month.
It is not unusual for natural substances to bond with and release oxygen, which is a highly reactive element. This is why oxygen is such a critical building block for human and plant life – it’s a relatively low-hanging fruit in evolutionary terms. But replicating such processes in science isn’t always easy. The process frequently degrades materials quickly, or requires extreme temperatures to cause the absorption or release, making such processes inconvenient for any potential commercial application.
This is what makes this newest breakthrough so exciting – the oxygen absorption and release cycle is sustained without breaking down the crystal at moderate temperatures – approximately 752 °F (400 °C). “This finding is striking in two ways: only cobalt ions are reduced, and the process leads to the formation of an entirely new but stable crystal structure,” Jeen explained. And, when oxygen is reintroduced, the original crystal structure is restored.
“This tackles the challenge of operating in harsher conditions involving much higher temperatures for oxygen control, and replaces other materials used in this process that were too fragile to use repeatedly,” reports New Atlas.
Due to these characteristics, these man-made crystals could be extremely useful in technologies such as solid oxide fuel cells, which can be used to produce electricity from hydrogen with minimal emissions if oxygen is controlled. The solid oxide fuel cells could be instrumental in extending the range of electric cars, especially if they are able to operate at relatively low temperatures.
The ability to control oxygen “also plays a role in thermal transistors—devices that can direct heat like electrical switches—and in smart windows that adjust their heat flow depending on the weather,” according to Phys.org. These smart windows can help to maintain indoor temperatures, greatly enhancing buildings’ energy efficiency. This could have an enormous impact on climate goals – at present, incredibly, buildings consume more energy than transportation and industry combined.
The research team has already tested out the application of the crystal in smart windows. “They’ve found out that the material changes transparency based on its oxygen content, with the oxygen-rich version appearing less transparent while the oxygen-depleted version showing increased transparency,” reports Design Boom. The scientific team also foresees potential applications in electronics, including oxygen sensors and gas separation systems.
“This is a major step towards the realization of smart materials that can adjust themselves in real time,” says Professor Ohta. “The potential applications range from clean energy to electronics and even eco-friendly building materials.”
For now, however, next steps for the scientific process are to continue to refine the crystals’ composition and processing methods to optimize performance and durability. The team is continuing to test different metal ratios to see if they can improve upon SrFe0.5Co0.5O2.5.
By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com
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