Physicists Make Significant Gains In Race For Room-Temperature Superconductivity

Less than 2 years after shocking the science world with the discovery of one material capable of room-temperature superconductivity, a group of UNLV physicists has upped the ante once again by reproducing the accomplishment at the lowest pressure ever recorded.

In other words, science is closer than ever to a functional, replicable material that could one day transform how power is transported. UNLV physicist Ashkan Salamat and his colleague Ranga Dias, a physicist with the College of Rochester, created international headlines in 2020 by reporting room-temperature superconductivity for the 1st time.

To achieve the accomplishment, the scientists chemically synthesized a mix of carbon, sulfur, and hydrogen into a metallic state and then into a room-temperature superconducting state using extreme pressure– 267 gigapascals– conditions you would only discover in nature near the center of the Earth.

Quickly forward less than two years, and the team is currently able to complete the task at just 91 GPa– roughly one-third the pressure initially reported. The recent findings were published this month as an advance article in the journal Chemical Communications.

A super discovery

Through a detailed adjusting of the composition of carbon, sulfur, and hydrogen utilized in the original breakthrough, scientists can produce a material at a lower pressure that retains its state of superconductivity.

“These are pressures at a degree difficult to comprehend and evaluate outside of the lab; however, our current trajectory reveals that it is feasible to achieve relatively high superconducting temperatures at consistently lower pressures– which is our ultimate goal,” stated research study lead writer Gregory Alexander Smith, a graduate student with UNLV’s Nevada Extreme Conditions Lab (NEXCL). “At the end of the day, if we want to create tools beneficial to social needs, then we have to reduce the pressure required to produce them.”

Though the pressures are still high– about a thousand times higher than you would experience at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench– they continue to race toward an objective of near-zero. It is a race that’s gaining steam exponentially at UNLV as scientists gain a much better knowledge of the chemical relationship between the carbon, sulfur, and hydrogen that make up the material.

“Our understanding of the partnership between carbon and sulfur is advancing fast, and we are discovering ratios that lead to notably different and more efficient responses than what was initially observed,” stated Salamat, that directs UNLV’s NEXCL and contributed to the latest study. “To see such different phenomena in a similar system simply shows the richness of Mother Nature. There is so much more to comprehend, and every recent advancement brings us closer to the precipice of everyday superconducting devices.”

The Holy Grail of power efficiency

Superconductivity is one remarkable phenomenon first observed more than one century ago, but just at remarkably reduced temperatures that preempted any idea of practical application. Only in the 1960s did scientists theorize that the feat might be feasible at higher temperatures.

The 2020 find by Salamat and colleagues of a room-temperature superconductor excited the science world partly because the technology supports electrical circulation with zero resistance, meaning that power passing through a circuit can be conducted infinitely and with no loss of energy. This could have significant implications for power storage and also the transmission, supporting everything from better cell phone batteries to a more efficient energy grid.

“The global power crisis shows no signs of slowing, and costs are rising partly due to a U.S. power grid which loses roughly $30 billion annually because of the inefficiency of existing technology,” said Salamat. “For social change, we must lead with technology, and the work happening today is, I believe, at the forefront of tomorrow’s solutions.”

According to Salamat, the properties of superconductors could support a modern generation of products that could fundamentally change the energy infrastructure of the united state and beyond.

“Imagine harnessing power in Nevada and sending it across the country without any energy loss,” he stated. “This technology could one day make it possible.”

Read the original article on UNLV.