Room-Temperature Superconductors

What are Superconductors and why do I care?

To understand a superconductor one needs to understand superconductivity, a physical property in which a material has no electrical resistance and repels magnetic fields. Superconductivity is achieved by cooling down special metals to temperatures close to absolute zero (a temperature in which there is no movement of the particles inside a material). For something to be a superconductor, the electrons inside the metal pair up under cold temperatures preventing these particles from moving, therefore stopping electrical resistance. Moreover, the lack of electron movement makes superconductors expel all magnetic fields due to the Meissner effect. This Meissner effect causes a superconductor to float when being photographed over a magnet or magnetic field.

A by-product of superconductors having no electrical resistance means they produce no heat when in contact with strong electrical fields. Therefore, superconductors are used in machines with very powerful electromagnets such as MRIs, particle accelerators, and even cell phone base stations. The power of no electrical resistance also seems hopeful for future technologies such as Maglev trains, nuclear fusion reactors, and railguns.

Room Temperature Superconductors

On July 22, 2023 a paper called “The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor” was published on arXiv, an online, scientific, non-peer reviewed journal. The original July 22 findings were not peer-reviewed, meaning there could be inaccuracies in the findings, but the results did look promising. The paper claimed that a material of copper, lead, phosphorus, and oxygen that they called LK-99 could maintain superconductivity at temperatures of around 25 celsius (298 Kelvin) at close to vacuum pressures (1.31579 x 10-6 ATM) for electricity up to 250 milliamps (mA). They repeated this experiment with different values to create this chart.

The different colored lines show the LK-99 material in an almost vacuum scenario for different temperatures(K is -273.15 C, so 298 K is about 25 C/ 77o F). Superconductivity is achieved when the measured volts(Y axis) are 0 even though there is an applied current(X axis). So, LK-99 is a room temperature superconductor up to certain electricity levels according to the graphic.

So we have superconductors?

While the report that came out on the 22nd was interesting and did examine, describe, and detail a room temperature superconductor, much is still unknown. The paper is yet to be peer-reviewed (an important part of the scientific process) and other labs are having trouble exactly replicating the LK-99 material. So, while this material could be very beneficial for the world, its lack of replication and peer review have created a massive controversy. Therefore, more time will be needed for the rest of the scientific world to confirm the properties and the production described in the scientific paper.

Nonetheless, if LK-99 is confirmed by the rest of the scientific community, it could have major real life applications. The lack of energy required in cooling room temperature superconductors will enable cheaper energy transport and storing solutions. Long promised Maglev trains could finally be built and come online for the public. MRI technology could become cheaper allowing for more of the world to receive already developed medical technology. To improving a wide variety of fields from electronics, aerospace innovations, scientific instruments, and even military equipment, a cheaply produced room temperature superconductor could revolutionize our current technology and assist the development of future ideas. Hopefully, this LK-99 stands up to the tests and brings in a new wave of development.

Sources:

John Timmer. What’s going on with the reports of a room-temperature superconductor? Ars Technica. 4 August, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/08/whats-going-on-with-the-reports-of-a-room-temperature-superconductor/

Observing the magnetic reaction of a material under a magnet using a microscope. Targum Video. (n.d.). https://targum.video/v/2023/8/1/e2ad3b8e86961ccfdcf411d2d4d18d3f/

Sutter, P.What is a superconductor?. LiveScience. 2021, July 23. https://www.livescience.com/superconductor

Sukbae Lee, Ji-Hoon Kim, Young-Wan Kwon. The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor. Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.12008.pdf

J. Bardeen, L. N. Copper, and J. R. Schrieffer. Theory of Superconductivity. 1 December 1957. https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.108.1175