A group of researchers from Kyushu University, led by Professor Yoshihiro Yamazaki from the Department of Materials Science and Technology, Platform of Inter-/Transdisciplinary Energy Research (Q-PIT), in collaboration with Osaka University and the Fine Ceramics Center, have developed a machine learning framework to expedite the discovery of materials needed for green energy technology. Using this new approach, the team has identified and synthesized two new candidate materials for solid oxide fuel cells (devices that generate energy using fuels like hydrogen and do not emit carbon dioxide in the process).

The discovery was published in the Advanced Energy Materials journal and has implications beyond the energy sector, as it can speed up the search for other innovative materials.

The research group consisting of Yuta Shimizu, Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Junji Hyodo, and Professor Yoshihiro Yamazaki (Kyushu University’s Platform for Inter-/Transdisciplinary Energy Research (Q-PIT), Inamori Frontier Research Center and Master’s Program in Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering) in collaboration with Assistant Professor Susumu Fujii (Department of Materials Production Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University), and Chief Researcher Akihide Kuwahara (Nanostructures Research Laboratory, Japan Fine Ceramics Center), have developed a design guidelines for proton-conductive oxides using computation and data science, and have successfully synthesized several unconventional proton-conductive oxides in just one experiment. This material design guideline is expected to significantly advance the development of proton-conducting oxides and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) that utilize them. In addition, applying the established search method to other materials is expected to accelerate the development of innovative materials in various fields.

A research team composed of Dr. Kenta Hoshino, Dr. Junji Hyodo, Dr. Kentaro Yamamoto, and Professor Yoshihiro Yamazaki from Q-PIT and the Graduate School of Materials Science and Engineering, along with Associate Professor Shusuke Kasamatsu from the Yamagata University, Faculty of Science, have collaborated with Dr. Hiroyuki Setoyama from the Kyushu Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, and Toshihiro Okajima, Deputy Director of the Aichi Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, to uncover the chemical innerworkings of a perovskite-based electrolyte in the solid-oxide fuel cell, they developed. The team combined synchrotron radiation analysis, large-scale simulations, machine learning, and thermogravimetric analysis, to uncover the active site of where hydrogen atoms are introduced within the perovskite lattice in its process to produce energy.

As announced in the recent press release from Kyushu University, Prof. Yoshihiro Yamazaki from Q-PIT and his colleague Prof. Junji Hyodo reported that strain caused by just a 2% reduction in the distance between atoms when deposited on a surface leads to a whopping 99.999% decrease in the speed at which the materials conduct hydrogen ions, significantly reducing the performance of solid oxide fuel cells.