Scientists at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Bengaluru, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have provided key insights into a new class of materials for energy harvesting and power generation. Their work unraveled the electronic mechanisms governing the chemical bonding of a new class of materials called early metals with metavalent bonding (MVB) within a 2D layer of Group IV “chalcogenides”, which could lead to energy harvesting and power generation.
Chalcogenides can reversibly transition between amorphous and crystalline phases in response to changes in temperature, pressure or electric fields. The study conducted by Professor Umesh Waghmare of the Theoretical Science Unit at JNCASR explored the possibility of introducing metavalent bonding (MVB) within a single 2D layer of Group IV chalcogenides, investigating its mechanism and consequences on material properties.