Researchers have uncovered hidden stages in the creation of materials that could lead to entirely new technologies for clean energy and advanced batteries. By closely tracking what happens as specially designed molecules are heated, the team identified previously unknown materials, including a new form of a promising solar-energy compound.
The discovery challenges a long-standing approach in chemistry. Scientists typically focus on the starting ingredients and the final material produced during heating. This study instead examined the brief and unstable transitional phases that appear in between, revealing that these overlooked states can possess valuable properties of their own.
Published in Nature Communications, the research suggests that many undiscovered materials may be hiding within these temporary stages of chemical reactions.
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