The Portuguese helped discover thousands of new crystalline materials for use in technological applications – science

A group of researchers from the Department of Physics (DF) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) Mathematically predict 150,000 new crystalline materials that could be synthesized and later studied for use in technological applications..

The discovery resulted from the study “Machine Learning-Assisted Determination of the Global Zero Temperature Phase Diagram of Materials,” published in the journal Advanced Materials, which Focus on predicting crystalline materialsthat is, compounds whose atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern in all directions of space, Like table salt (Sodium chloride), quartz (silicon dioxide) and diamonds (carbon).

The type of material discovered is the basis of most modern techniques. Two examples are Solar Panelswhich the scientific community continues to search for alternatives or complements to existing silicon-based technology, or in solid state batterieswhich is becoming increasingly relevant with the spread of electric vehicles.

In addition to predicting the material itself, The researchers also focused on searching for superconductors and supersolids.

in a very simplistic way, A superconductor is a material that suddenly loses all electrical resistance when cooled below a certain temperature, called the “critical temperature”.explains Tiago Cerqueira, researcher at the University of Coimbra’s Center for Physics (CFisUC) and co-author of the study, quoted in a note sent to newsrooms.

this Materials Of paramount importance for imaging applications such as MRI machinesguarantee. The scientist also explains that a superhard is a material whose hardness approaches or exceeds that of diamond, and is commonly used in industry for cutting tools, for example.

Although it is computationally possible to study a large amount of material relatively quickly, an area of ​​a thousand million materials has been studied in this investigation. The analysis was only possible using modern machine learning tools to speed up the process.

These are thousands of discovered materials It has a high probability of being experimentally synthesized. In addition to, The FCTUC team found several materials with properties similar to those of the best known materials, which may have a technical application In the future.

A large part of modern studies involves the search for materials with specific properties, which is done today mainly in the materials known so far. By expanding the research space, we also hope to increase the likelihood of finding new materials for more diverse technological applications,” says Pedro Borlido, also a researcher at CFisUC and co-author of the study.

For the FCTUC Research Group, It is important to convey to society the importance of solid state physics for technological development. He concludes, “Without studies of the fundamental properties of matter, it would not be possible for us to understand how to design and improve complex systems, such as microelectronics, photovoltaic panels, batteries, and even new medicines.”