PULSELiON publishes its 25th Open Access Paper: “Polaronic and Electrochemical Signatures in Group IVB (Ti, Zr, Hf) Oxides: Unified SKP–DFT Insights for Tunable Transport in Energy and Electronic Devices”.
The PULSELiON project proudly announces its 25th Open Access publication, offering a unified framework for understanding electrochemical behavior and polaronic transport in transition metal oxides.
Published in Advanced Functional Materials (Wiley-VCH, 2025), the study combines scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKP) and density functional theory (DFT) simulations to analyze the surface potentials and electronic properties of TiO₂, ZrO₂, and HfO₂. These oxides, traditionally considered inert dielectrics, are shown to exhibit active electrochemical behavior, with tunable conductivity and mobility.
The insights from the study redefine the role of Group IVB oxides in energy storage, memory, and sensor applications, and support their integration into ion–electron hybrid devices.
Contribution from PULSELiON
This research was conducted by the University of Porto and LAETA – Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, within the framework of the PULSELiON project.