Scientists have discovered a new superconducting material that could revolutionize energy and electronics. The fact that the conductivity of the material is successful in practical conditions further glorifies the discovery.
The breakthrough might pave the way for hovering trains and ultra-efficient electrical grids.
When a material is superconductive, electricity flows through it with zero resistance, which means none of the energy involved is lost as heat. But every superconductor made so far has required extraordinary high pressures, and most have required very low temperatures.
Science Education Resource Center
Jump To
What’s so special about this material?
According to the New Scientist, an assistant professor named Ranga Dias at the University of Rochester in New York and his colleagues claim to have made a material from hydrogen, nitrogen, and lutetium that becomes superconductive at a temperature of just 69 degrees Fahrenheit and a pressure of 1 gigapascal. That is nearly 10,000 times the atmospheric pressure on Earth’s surface, but still a far lower pressure than any previous superconducting material.
The discovery made could make it possible to transmit energy to grids without resistance, and only by doing so could save 200 million megawatts of energy per hour. However, the key to nuclear fusion, which scientists have been trying to bring to life efficiently for a century, may also be in this material. The new material can be used not only in these areas, but also in any area where conductivity is needed, such as airborne high-speed trains, MRI, memories, electronic circuits.
“Let’s say you were riding a horse in the 1940s when you saw a Ferrari driving past you-that’s the level of difference between previous experiments and this one,” says Dias.
University Of Rochester
How did scientists create it?
In a paper in Nature, the researchers describe how they combined the three components to create the material by pressing it between two diamond anvils, a device that compresses materials to extremely high pressures.
Its colour shifted from blue to red when the substance was crushed, earning the term “red matter” from the researchers.
Click Here: Kyle Walker jersey sale
“With this material, the dawn of ambient superconductivity and applied technologies has arrived,” according to a team led by Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics.
R Dias
Dias predicts that nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride will greatly accelerate progress in the development of tokamak machines to achieve fusion. According to him, tokamaks, another method of trapping plasma instead of lasers, could produce an enormous magnetic field when combined with the material he discovered. According to him, this is exactly the “game changer”.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.