Room-temperature superconductivity is a dream of the physics community and a challenge for the scientific and technological community. If room-temperature superconductivity can be realized, then the transmission and utilization of electrical energy will be greatly improved, the application of electromagnetic technology will be greatly expanded, and human life will be greatly changed. However, the realization of room-temperature superconductivity has been difficult, and so far, there is no recognized room-temperature superconducting material.
Last year, a team of researchers in South Korea claimed that they had discovered a room-temperature superconducting material called LK-99, which caused a global sensation and attention. However, after verification and reproduction by many parties, LK-99 does not show any key characteristics of superconductivity, but is a material with antimagnetic jump, and its superconducting properties are masked by an impurity called cuprous sulfide. This incident has caused the South Korean research team to be questioned and criticized by the academic community, and it has also plunged the research of room-temperature superconductivity into a fog.
However, just recently, the South Korean research team announced that they have developed another room-temperature superconducting material, which is an extension of LK-99, which has a higher superconducting critical temperature and stronger superconducting properties. This news once again triggered a shock and heated discussion in the scientific community, and also once again triggered doubts and explorations. Is this new material really superconducting, or is it misleading? How is this new material prepared and tested? What kind of scientific value and technical prospect does this new material mean? This article will analyze and discuss this issue from the following aspects.
2. How is this new material prepared and tested?
According to the Korean research team, this new material is based on LK-99 by adding a compound called silver sulfide to improve the superconductivity of LK-99. Silver sulfide is a material with high electrical conductivity and high thermal stability, which can effectively inhibit the diamagnetic jump of cuprous sulfide, thereby enhancing the superconducting properties of LK-99. According to the South Korean research team, they used a method called the sol-gel method, in which LK-99 and silver sulfide were mixed together to form a homogeneous sol, and then the sol was heated to high temperatures to form a hard gel through a method called heat treatment, and finally the gel was ground into powder through a method called the grinding method to obtain the new material.
The South Korean research team said they used a method called the alternating current magnetic susceptibility method to test the superconducting properties of the new material. AC magnetic susceptibility method is a commonly used method to measure superconducting materials, which can judge whether the material has superconducting properties, as well as parameters such as the critical temperature and critical magnetic field of superconductivity by measuring the magnetic susceptibility of the material in the alternating magnetic field. The South Korean research team said that they measured the alternating current magnetic susceptibility of the new material at different temperatures and magnetic fields, and found that the new material showed a significant superconducting signal at room temperature, that is, about 27 degrees Celsius, and this signal became stronger and more stable with the decrease of temperature and the increase of the magnetic field, indicating that the new material has a high superconducting critical temperature and superconducting critical magnetic field.
3. What kind of scientific value and technical prospect does this new material imply?
If this new material is really a room-temperature superconducting material, then it will have extremely high scientific value and technical prospects, mainly in the following aspects:
It means the realization and breakthrough of room-temperature superconductivity. Room-temperature superconductivity is a dream of the physics community and a challenge for the scientific and technological community. At present, the highest known critical temperature for superconductivity is a material for sulfur hydride discovered in 2015, which has a superconducting critical temperature of -70 degrees Celsius and needs to be achieved at a high pressure of more than 200 atmospheres. If this new material is indeed a room-temperature superconducting material, then it will greatly surpass the existing superconducting materials, achieve a historic breakthrough, and will also provide a new perspective and platform for understanding and exploring the nature and mechanism of superconductivity.
Project Controversy - means the development and application of superconducting technology. Superconducting technology is a technology that uses the special properties of superconducting materials to achieve zero resistance and strong magnetic field, and it has a wide range of applications and potential, such as in electric power, transportation, communications, medical, military and other fields. However, the current superconducting technology can only be realized under low temperature and high pressure conditions, which increases the cost and difficulty of superconducting technology and limits the development and application of superconducting technology. If this new material is really a room-temperature superconducting material, then it will greatly reduce the requirements and difficulty of superconducting technology, achieve a technological leap, and will also provide a new opportunity and space for promoting and expanding the development and application of superconducting technology.