Functional materials research covers the design, synthesis, and understanding of materials whose properties are deliberately engineered to perform a specific function. In this Theme, the research spans energy materials for batteries and electrochemical devices, magnetic and multiferroic materials, neutron-optical multilayers, perovskites, chromophores, and complex alloys. A common goal across the projects is to establish clear synthesis – structure – dynamics – property relationships: how composition, processing routes, dimensionality, and defects control electrochemical performance, magnetic order, optical response, mechanical stability, or transport behaviour. This knowledge is essential for developing materials that enable sustainable energy technologies, advanced electronics, quantum and spintronic devices, and high-performance instrumentation, with strong relevance for both fundamental research and industrial applications.
Neutron techniques play a central role in functional materials research because they provide direct access to atomic, magnetic, and dynamic information that is often inaccessible with other probes. Neutrons are uniquely sensitive to light elements such as lithium, sodium, boron, and hydrogen, and they interact strongly with magnetic moments, making them indispensable for studying battery electrodes and electrolytes, magnetic alloys, multiferroics, and hydrogen-containing frameworks. Techniques such as neutron diffraction, total scattering, quasielastic and inelastic neutron scattering, small-angle scattering, and neutron reflectometry allow researchers to probe crystal structures, local disorder, ion dynamics, magnetic correlations, excitations, and buried interfaces across relevant length and time scales.
A key strength of neutron scattering in this Theme is its ability to connect microscopic structure and dynamics to macroscopic function, often under realistic or in-operando conditions. Neutron methods make it possible to follow ion motion in electrolytes and electrodes, resolve water and vacancy effects in framework materials, determine complex magnetic structures, characterise ultra-sharp interfaces in multilayers, and probe thin films and devices during operation. When combined with synthesis, advanced modelling, machine learning, and complementary X-ray and laboratory techniques, neutron scattering enables a comprehensive understanding of functional materials. Together, these capabilities support rational materials design and accelerate the development of next-generation technologies for energy, electronics, and neutron-based instrumentation.