Have you wondered how in summers the walls of houses continue to be warm even hours after the Sun has set? This is due to the heat storing capacity or the latent heat of the material. Some materials can store a lot of heat while others aren’t that good at it. It is an intrinsic property that can be changed by altering the material’s structure. However, no matter what you do, it will release heat and there was no way of controlling the process until now.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a new material that can store energy and release it at our command. In a study published in the Nature Communications, we come to know more about the material. According to the piece, the new material can store energy and then release it to the surroundings by applying a little bit of pressure. Amazing, isn’t it?
As expected, the material is a ceramic but not the regular kind used in houses. It is stripe-type-lambda-trititanium-pentoxide, and it is primarily composed of Titanium and Oxygen atoms. It can store the energy throughout the day, and you can use it when you feel like it. If perfected for commercial use, the material can help us innovate new ways of heating and storing energy losses unlike anything before.
We know how moving engine parts, electricity conduction and basically anything that release energy losses in the form of heat. We have had no way to store or control this waste heat, but now things will change. We will have lesser heat losses in factories, solar panels and even computers and phones that generate significant amounts of energy to keep our body warm. But, while these long-term goals are in the minds of the team, don’t expect the futuristic material to hit the shelves anytime soon.
