Researchers discover material that is superconducting at -70 degrees

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, have discovered a superconducting material that is superconducting under high pressure at -70 degrees Celsius or 203 Kelvin. The previous record was 164 Kelvin under high pressure.

The researchers write this in the journal Nature on Monday. This makes the research the new record holder when it comes to superconductivity at high temperatures with a so-called conventional superconductor. The material with which superconductivity could be achieved below 200 gigapascals was hydrogen sulfide, or H2S. Under normal circumstances, the substance is best known as the substance that gives rotten eggs their smell.

The extremely high pressure, about 2 million times the atmospheric pressure, causes the formation of H3S, a phase in which, according to the researchers, clearly visible features of superconductivity were visible. The discovery strengthens the hope that materials based on hydrogen can one day be made superconducting at room temperature. As the author of an accompanying News & Views article in Nature states, “It operates at around 200 Kelvin, a temperature even found on Earth.”