P. Zhao; G. Li; X. Xiong; P. Cheng; Z. Pang; C. Sun; H. Cheng; C. Shi; X. Yu; Q. Xu; X. Zou
Nature Communications 16 (2025) 2443
Nearly 50% of global primary energy consumption is lost as low-temperature
heat. λ-Ti3O5 holds promise for waste heat harvesting and reuse; however,
achieving reversible phase transitions between its λ and β phases under
accessible conditions remains a major challenge. Here, we proposed a simple
laser method that incorporates element substitution for sub-minute synthesis
(20–60 s) of λ-MxTi3-xO5 (M=Mg, Al,Sc, V, Cr,Mn, or Fe,0.09 ≤ x≤ 0.42). In
particular, aluminum-substituted λ-AlxTi3-xO5 demonstrated the lowest energy
barrier, with a transition pressure of 557MPa and temperature of 363 K.
Notably, compression of the (001) crystal plane could reduce the transition
pressure to only 35–40 MPa, enabling the applicability of λ-AlxTi3-xO5 for wide
applications in heat recovery and future lunar explorations.