Efficiently capturing and storing excess heat, particularly below 200°C, is paramount to achieving a carbon-neutral society. Every year, factories and homes produce excess heat, much of which gets wasted. Likewise, as the world gets more reliant on renewable energy sources, the need to capture and store heat grows.

A collaboration between Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency has made significant strides in this regard, developing nanosheets of layered manganese dioxide (MnO₂) that can store heat even below 100°C.

Details of the study were published in the journal Communications Chemistry.