A diagram of the molecular structure of double perovskite shows how atoms of barium (green) and a lanthanide (purple) are arranged within a crystalline structure of cobalt (pink) and oxygen (red).
MIT researchers have found a new family of materials that provides the best-ever performance in a reaction called oxygen evolution, a key requirement for energy storage and delivery systems such as advanced fuel cells and lithium-air batteries. The materials, called double perovskites, are a variant of a mineral that exists in abundance in the Earth's crust. Their remarkable ability to promote oxygen evolution in a water-splitting reaction - which breaks water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen - is detailed in a paper appearing . The work was conducted by Yang Shao-Horn, the Gail E. Kendall Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering; postdoc Alexis Grimaud; and six others. The performance of this family of materials, Shao-Horn says, is a step forward from the previous record-holder for a catalyst that promotes electrochemical water-splitting - a material that Shao-Horn and her team reported in a paper in Science two years ago. In addition, while the earlier material quickly changes structure during water-splitting, the new material is stable. Splitting water into its constituent elements could be a significant boon for renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, whose output is highly variable.
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