- Two new papers published recently have indicated the possibility of a room-temperature superconductor.
- Two South Korean researchers claimed that a lead-based compound they had developed had shown superconducting properties at room temperature, under normal pressure conditions.
Superconductivity
- Superconductivity refers to a state in which a material offers zero, or near-zero, resistance to electric current.
- So far, this phenomenon is observed in certain materials at very low temperatures, typically close to absolute zero (-273.15°C or 0 Kelvin).
- In superconductors, electrical resistance drops to virtually zero, allowing electric current to flow through them without any loss of energy due to resistance.
Key characteristics
- Zero Resistance: In a superconductor, electrons can move through the material without encountering any resistance.
- Perfect Diamagnetism: Superconductors exhibit a strong repulsion of magnetic fields, a property known as perfect diamagnetism.When a superconductor is exposed to an external magnetic field, it expels the magnetic flux lines from its interior, effectively causing the magnetic field to be excluded from the material.
- Critical Temperature (Tc): Every superconductor has a critical temperature.Below this temperature, the material exhibits superconducting behaviour.Above the critical temperature, the material returns to its normal state with resistive behaviour.
- Meissner Effect: It is the expulsion of a magnetic field from the interior of a superconductor as it transitions into the superconducting state.This effect results in the material’s ability to trap a magnetic field within its interior, preventing it from penetrating the material.