This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new way of measuring how materials interact at the atomic level could help scientists develop better-performing, longer-lasting batteries. Researchers from the University of East London have co-developed a method for predicting how different chemicals behave, potentially helping identify the materials most likely to improve performance, for example, when used in batteries, without relying on costly and time-consuming experiments.
The method focuses on anions—negatively charged particles that play an important role in batteries and many other chemical processes. Different anions interact with other substances in various ways, and how readily they share their electrons with other atoms can affect how they behave in chemical reactions. Published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the study introduces a way of measuring how different chemicals interact with materials used in batteries.
Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), which works by shining X-rays onto a material to identify exactly which elements are present and how they are chemically bonded, the researchers measured how tightly specific atoms within anions held on to their electrons. They then used computer modeling to recreate these measurements virtually, enabling them to predict the behavior of the most promising battery materials without extensive laboratory testing. The potential applications could also extend beyond batteries.
The researchers hope their findings could eventually be used to build a database of many different elements, which could fuel machine learning and artificial intelligence and help scientists make faster chemical discoveries. Richard Matthews, senior lecturer of physical and computational chemistry at UEL and co-author of the study, said, "We now have a much clearer picture of how anions interact with other materials, and that opens up some exciting possibilities. By being able to predict these interactions, we can focus our efforts on the materials that show the most promise for better batteries and beyond." Lewis G.
Parker et al, Element-Specific Donor Numbers for Anions, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2026). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6c06567 Journal information: Journal of the American Chemical Society Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space.
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