LK-99 : What is the ‘Magical’ Superconductor that could Change the World | Details Inside

As the rise around the possibility of a room-temperature superconductor that could revolutionise the world of engineering, physics, and energy. Two new papers publish last week have indicate the possibility of a room-temperature superconductor.

What is a Superconductor?

Superconductors are a class of materials that exhibit near-zero electrical resistance and expel magnetic fields while allowing electric charges (usually electrons) to move freely through them.

Discover over a century ago, superconductors are a critical component of modern-day transportation systems, medicine, energy transmission, and scientific research.

But, there is a glitch.

When it comes to conventional conductors that we use today, like copper and aluminum, the flow of electric current encounters resistance, leading to energy loss in the form of heat.

That’s where the discovery of superconductivity change everything.

Now let us explain this : If cars were electrons (the tiny particles that carry electricity) and the highway was a normal wire, there would be a lot of traffic, and cars would collide and create traffic jams. This is similar to the resistance experience by electricity as it travels through a normal wire. The energy from these collisions and jams turns into heat, which is why wires get hot when you pass a lot of electricity through them. Now, imagine a magical highway where cars (or electrons) could zoom along without ever colliding or slowing down. This is similar to what happens in a superconductor. There is no resistance to slow down the flow of electricity, so no energy is lost as heat.

In superconductors, a quantum phenomenon causes electrons to pair up allowing them to move through the structure of the material with remarkable ease and near-zero electrical resistance and no loss of energy. 

But that happens only at very low temperatures, typically near absolute zero or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, and extremely high pressure.

To achieve these conditions, you require costly and complex cooling systems like liquid helium for superconductivity to happen.

This limitation has restrict their widespread practical applications.

The new discovery is therefore exciting.

These two new papers uploaded to the arXiv preprint server, by researchers from South Korea, state the creation of a material known as LK-99 that can conduct superconductivity at room temperatures.

The lead-based compound, which could conduct electricity without any resistance under normal conditions, could have long-term advantages. 

A room-temperature superconductor would exhibit superconducting properties at temperatures that are easily attainable and sustainable with conventional cooling methods.

This could lead to transformative advancements in various industries at low costs.

The Researchers wrote on the preprint server :

According to South Korean researchers, LK-99, the new superconductor, can be synthesise through a baking process that involves combining the minerals lanarkite (Pb₂SO_₅) and copper phosphide (Cu_₃P).

The resulting material exhibits two essential characteristics of superconductivity even at normal air pressure and temperatures as high as 127 degrees Celsius, zero resistance to electric current and the ability to levitate in the presence of magnetic fields.

While the researchers have put forward a plausible theory explaining how LK-99 could achieve room-temperature superconductivity, they have not yet provide definitive experimental evidence to support their claims.

Experts have said that while the finding is exciting, the data present in their research papers appears inconclusive and requires further validation and scrutiny. 

So, if it is experimentally prove, it would be game-changing for the energy sector, which will see a new world with near-zero loss of energy in power transmissions.