**Summary:**
A team of Indian researchers, led by Dr. Kavita Pandey at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru (an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India), in collaboration with Aligarh Muslim University, has developed a next-generation energy storage material based on lanthanum-doped silver niobate (AgNbO3) nanoparticles. This innovation significantly enhances supercapacitor performance by improving both energy storage capacity and charge-discharge efficiency.
The researchers doped silver niobate, a lead-free and environmentally friendly material with good electrical properties, with lanthanum, a rare-earth element. This doping process reduced the size of the silver niobate nanoparticles, increasing the surface area available for energy storage, and enhanced the material's electrical conductivity.
The resulting lanthanum-doped silver niobate demonstrated superior energy retention, maintaining 118% of its initial capacity after extensive use, and achieved 100% coulombic efficiency, indicating virtually no energy loss during operation. A prototype asymmetric supercapacitor built using this material successfully powered an LCD display, demonstrating its potential for real-world applications.
The research, published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, demonstrates the effectiveness of lanthanum doping for tailoring the properties of silver niobate nanoparticles in high-performance supercapacitors. Future research will focus on exploring doping strategies in other perovskites and scaling up the production of lanthanum-doped silver niobate components for commercial applications. The advancement contributes to the global demand for clean and efficient energy storage solutions and can enable compact, high-efficiency storage devices for applications ranging from portable electronics to large-scale renewable energy systems.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Science Technology: Government ministry responsible for science and technology initiatives.
Bengaluru, Karnataka: City in Karnataka, India, where scientists are working on energy storage material.
Aligarh Muslim University: University collaborating with scientists from Bengaluru on the energy storage material.
Dr. Kavita Pandey: Lead Indian researcher at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS).
Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences CeNS, Bengaluru, Karnataka: Autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology DST, Government of India.
Department of Science and Technology DST: Department under the Government of India overseeing science and technology initiatives, including CeNS.
silver niobate AgNbO: Lead-free and environmentally friendly material with excellent electrical characteristics used in energy storage research.
lanthanum: Rare-earth element used to dope silver niobate nanoparticles to improve energy storage.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Indian Scientists Engineer Supercharged Green
Energy Material
Posted On: 02 JUL 2025 5:19PM by PIB Delhi
In a breakthrough that could redefine how we store and use energy, Scientists from Bengaluru, in
collaboration with Aligarh Muslim University, have engineered a next-generation energy storage material that
dramatically enhances supercapacitor performance.
At the heart of modern energy storage lies the supercapacitor—a device that can rapidly store and release
large amounts of energy making them crucial for powering everything from mobile devices and electric
vehicles to renewable energy systems. While faster than batteries, supercapacitors have often lagged behind in
how much energy they can hold? Scientists have been exploring for materials that can increase storage
without sacrificing speed or longevity.
A team of Indian researchers led by Dr. Kavita Pandey at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences
(CeNS), Bengaluru—an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Government of India, focused on silver niobate (AgNbO₃), a lead-free and environmentally friendly material
with excellent electrical characteristics.
They injected lanthanum, a rare-earth element known for its beneficial electronic properties into silver niobate
nanoparticles. This shrank the silver niobate nanoparticles particles allowing more surface area for energy
storage.
The lanthanum improved the material’s ability to conduct electricity, thus speeding up the energy charge-
discharge cycles. As a result of the lanthanum doping strategy, energy retention skyrocketed—the material
retained 118% of its initial capacity after extensive use and efficiency hit perfection—with virtually no energy
lost in use, giving 100% coulombic efficiency.
Fig: Crystal configuration of Lanthanum-doped silver niobate and the photograph demonstrating the
supercapacitor device successfully powering an LCD display
An asymmetric supercapacitor prototype was built with the material successfully powered an LCD display,hinting at real-world applications.
This research, published in the Journal of Alloys and Compounds, highlights the exciting potential of
lanthanum doping as a strategy for tailoring the properties of silver niobate nanoparticles for high-
performance supercapacitors. The findings enhance the promise of AgNbO₃ nanoparticles in electrochemical
energy storage and showcase the important role of rare-earth doping in material innovation. Due to the global
push for clean and efficient energy storage solutions, advancements like this are significant milestones.
By boosting energy density without compromising power output and stability, La-doped silver niobate can
help pave the way for compact, high-efficiency storage devices suitable for both portable electronics to large-
scale renewable energy systems. Looking ahead, future research will explore doping strategies in other
perovskites and work towards scaling up the production of lanthanum-doped silver niobate components to
ensure commercial feasibility.
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NKR/PSM
(Release ID: 2141570)