From better battery life to bigger quantum computers, warmer superconductors would be a gamechanger for engineering.
The scientific community has been abuzz the past few weeks because of two pre-print articles released on arXiv claiming the discovery of a room temperature superconductor, LK-99. (Read the papers here and here. Note that they were not peer reviewed prior to release.)
These publications brought to the forefront of conversation the potential impact of what a room temperature superconductor could mean for many different fields. As the hunt to replicate or debunk these results comes to a conclusion, here is a recap of the LK-99 saga and what this area of research could mean for engineering and technology development.
What are superconductors?
Superconductors are a big deal because they can transport electricity without any loss of energy. Unlike normal conductors, superconductors have zero resistance. With nothing to restrict the flow of electricity, numerous technologies and worldwide infrastructure could be improved.
In addition to being ultra energy efficient, superconductors also allow us to create powerful magnetic fields, allowing for their use in the creation of MRIs and magnetically levitated (maglev) trains.
Researchers have already discovered a number of superconductors. The US Department of Energy estimates that approximately half of the elements in the periodic table display low temperature superconductivity. However, they still require sub-zero temperatures or extremely high pressures. This is not feasible for most everyday uses of the technology, but these materials have found some current uses in transportation and medicine.
What is LK-99?
Published on July 22 by South Korean scientists Sukbae Lee, Ji-Hoon Kim and Young-Wan Kwon, the LK-99 papers reported the creation of a superconductor that worked at room temperature and ambient pressure. In fact, the researchers claimed that not only did it work at room temperature, but it had superconducting properties up to 127°C (around 260°F). Known as LK-99, the reported superconducting substance is made up of a combination of copper, lead, phosphorus and oxygen.
These were big claims and the scientific community was immediately skeptical, wanting to see a replication of the results before giving them credence. Repeatability is crucial in all scientific work, but immediately called upon here. Combining this with the fact that the papers were pre-printed publicly before being peer reviewed increased skepticism. Many research teams immediately started the process of trying to match what is reported in the paper.
Less than a month after the LK-99 papers were published, other researchers are reporting they believe the results in the South Korean researchers’ papers are not correct. Teams that were trying to replicate the results came across a number of red flags in the initial publication and video that shows LK-99 levitating. The evidence of superconductivity is now generally being credited instead to impurities in the substance the South Korean team created, and properties like ferromagnetism.
How room temperature superconductors could help engineers
Although it does not look like we will have room temperature superconductors within the next month, we can still dream of the ways the technology would—and maybe someday will—benefit engineers. Here are just a few examples.
Less heat production from electronics
Fans and large heat sinks are a constant in many electronics. Engineers always have to think about dissipating heat in their designs and keep in mind precautions for overheating. The main cause of this heat production is resistance in the materials conducting the electricity. Since superconductors lack this resistance, they don’t produce heat. They could help us shrink the sizes of our electronics and open upon many new technological possibilities.
Longer battery life for phones and laptops
When electricity is not lost to heat, our device can become much more energy efficient. That means electronics can put their stored energy to full use, increasing battery life. It could also enable battery sizes to be smaller to maintain the same battery life consumers have come to expect.
More efficient energy grid
With no loss of energy throughout the process of generating or moving electricity around, less energy would need to be produced, potentially lowering utility costs and emissions. Less stress would be put on the grid during hot summers and cold winters, resulting in a lower chance of power outages.
According to a quantum materials research workshop publication from the US Department of Energy Office of Science, some higher temperature (still under 0°C) superconductors are already being used in Seoul, South Korea to transport energy to high-rise buildings. Raising the operating temperature of superconductors could bring this type of technology around the world.
Bigger quantum computers
Many aspects of quantum science happen at extreme temperatures. Cooling atoms close to absolute zero can slow them down and allow quantum phenomena to be more visible. However, getting computers to those temperatures consistently requires a significant amount of energy. So it is no surprise that superconductors could help advance quantum computing, helping reduce the high energy requirements of the cryogenic systems of quantum computers, and potentially allowing the computers to grow in scale.
As a side note, scientists are also working to develop quantum computers that can operate at higher temperatures as well. Both superconductors and quantum computers functioning closer to room temperature could be a game changer.
Smaller and less expensive MRI machines
The other major application of superconductors is rooted in their connection to magnetism. As materials transition to their superconductive state during the supercooling process, they generate powerful magnetic fields. This is also known as the Meissner Effect.
MRI machines depend on the creation of magnetic fields to take medical images. According to the US Department of Energy, larger MRI machines typically lower the temperature of an alloy of niobium and titanium to superconducting levels to generate the needed magnetic fields. These MRI machines must be large and expensive to create this process.
Room temperature superconductors would allow these massive machines to be scaled down and significantly reduce their complexity.
More accessible magnetically levitated trains
Maglev trains that use low-temperature superconductors already exist. Using supercooled materials, the train system creates magnetic fields up to ten times stronger than typical electromagnets. These magnets push the trains away from the track, levitating them a few inches above its surface.
Despite the technology being available, you may have noticed maglev trains are not popping up in every city. Similar to large MRI machines, they are very expensive and not feasible for most locations. Room temperature superconductors could allow for cheaper designs that can operate at lower costs over longer distances.
Better particle accelerators
One other current application of superconducting magnets is in particle accelerators. The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), consists of a 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets. These magnets are cooled to their operating temperature of ‑271.3°C (-456.34°F) by liquid helium. According to CERN, the creators of the LHC, “if normal magnets were used in the 27-kilometer long LHC instead of superconducting magnets, the accelerator would have to be 120 kilometers long to reach the same energy.”
Removing the need to cool these magnets could open up a new world of particle accelerator development, and potentially bring about discoveries in many other fields as well. Scientific discovery in one field would fuel scientific discovery in another.
