LK-99 superconductor

• Researchers from South Korea have declared 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.
• LK-99, the new superconductor, can be synthesised through a baking process that involves combining the minerals lanarkite Pb2(SO4)O 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.

About Superconductors

• 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.
• Superconductors are a critical component of modern-day transportation systems, medicine, energy transmission, and scientific research.
• 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.
  • However, that happens only at very low temperatures, typically near absolute zero or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, and extremely high pressure.
  • Attaining these conditions requires costly and complex cooling systems like liquid helium for superconductivity to happen.
  • This limitation has restricted their widespread practical applications.
    • The new discovery is therefore exciting.