Tokyo team ties vanadium crystal symmetry to hydrogen quantum tunneling

Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo report that the symmetry of vanadium's crystal structure acts as a switch for how hydrogen moves inside the metal, SciTechDaily reported, citing a Nature Communications paper. Hydrogen in vanadium can travel as a conventional particle that needs enough energy to hop between sites, or as a quantum wave that tunnels through barriers. Combining structure and diffusion measurements with quantum mechanical calculations, the team found that lowering crystal symmetry changes which path dominates. SciTechDaily framed the result as relevant to materials that store and transport hydrogen. The reference line lists the paper as "Impact of crystal symmetry lowering on proton tunneling" by S. S. Das and colleagues, dated 15 July 2026, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75020-w.