Accelerated discovery of crystalline materials with record ultralow lattice thermal conductivity via a universal descriptor

Ultralow glass-like lattice thermal conductivity in crystalline materials is crucial for enhancing energy conversion efficiency in thermoelectrics and thermal insulators. We introduce a universal descriptor for thermal conductivity that relies only on the atomic number in the primitive cell and the sound velocity, enabling fast and scalable materials screening. Coupled with high-throughput workflows and universal machine learning potentials, we identify the candidate materials with ultralow thermal conductivity from over 25, 000 materials. We further validate this approach by experimentally confirming record-low thermal conductivity values of 0.15–0.16 W/m·K from 170 to 400 K in the halide metal CsAg2I3. Combining inelastic neutron scattering with first-principles calculations, we attribute the ultralow thermal conductivity to the intrinsically small sound velocity, strong anharmonicity, and structural complexity. Our work illustrates how a universal descriptor, combined with high-throughput screening, machine-learning potential and experiment, enables the efficient discovery of materials with ultralow thermal conductivity. The authors propose a universal descriptor for thermal conductivity based solely on the atomic number in the primitive cell and sound velocity, enabling rapid and scalable materials screening.