JNCASR scientists provide insights into new class of materials for energy harvesting and power generation
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) scientists in a new study have provided ground breaking insights into a new class of materials for energy harvesting and power generation.
According to the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the new study unravels the electronic mechanisms governing the chemical bonding of a new class of materials called incipient metals with metavalent bonding (MVB) within a single 2D layer of Group IV chalcogenides that can boost energy harvesting and power generation.
Unique properties
Sourcing new materials with unique properties can help advance current technology. Recently, scientists have turned to a class of compounds called group IV chalcogenides, which have intriguing properties and are suitable candidates for technological applications. These compounds contain an element from group VI of the periodic table combined with an element from group III–V of the periodic table, like PbTe, SnTe, and GeTe.
Chalcogenides can transition reversibly between amorphous and crystalline phases in response to changes in temperature, pressure, or electrical fields. This unique characteristic, due to the contrasting optical responses of the two phases, has practical applications in rewritable optical discs and electronic memory devices.
Additionally, these chalcogenides are valuable in energy harvesting and power generation applications thanks to their high electrical conductivity and effective conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy through the thermoelectric effect.
This was conducted by Professor Umesh Waghmare from Theoretical Sciences Unit at JNCASR.
Two years of research
DST said, driven by an idea presented by Professor C.N.R. Rao, the study aimed to unravel the electronic mechanisms governing the chemical bonding in these materials. The findings, which took nearly two years of theoretical and computational work, have shed light on the unique properties of these materials, challenging conventional chemical bonding ideas.
“These materials, termed incipient metals, possess a combination of properties that defy conventional understanding. They exhibit electrical conductivity akin to metals, high thermoelectric efficiency characteristic of semiconductors, and unusually low thermal conductivity, creating a triad of properties that traditional chemical bonding concepts cannot explain,” said Prof. Waghmare.
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