From smartphone charging to hydrogen production, the fundamental principles of energy technology have been revealed. Korean researchers have, for the first time, identified how molecular structures change within the ultra-small space called the “electric double layer.” The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, opens a new path to simultaneously improve efficiency and performance in battery, hydrogen, and carbon-neutral technologies by reducing energy loss and selectively inducing desired reactions.

A research team led by Professor Hyungjun Kim from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Professor Chang Hyuck Choi from POSTECH and Professor Seung-Jae Shin from UNIST, has identified structural phase transitions (phenomena in which the state or arrangement of matter changes) occurring within the electric double layer.

In particular, they revealed at the molecular level the cause of the phenomenon in which the pattern of electrical storage capacity (capacitance) changes from a camel shape to a bell shape depending on electrolyte concentration.