Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) recently uncovered novel properties of strontium niobate, which is a unique semiconductor material that displays both metallic type conduction and photocatalytic activity. The two studies, which were conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, herald exciting opportunities for the creation of novel devices with unprecedented functionalities as well as unique applications of a new family of photocatalytic materials.