The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor

Copying here this caution comment from a user on Reddit:

Non-peer reviewed, non-replicated, rushed-looking preprint, on a topic with a long history of controversy and retractions. So don't get excited yet.

Yeah, huge grain of salt required.

But would be absolutely huge if true, and the recipe in the materials and methods is trivial. Both in equipment and materials. So someone else will try this soon, if people aren't already trying.
- Oh I bet there are several labs that are already on it :)

So I read the paper. Here’s a tldr about how their material apparently gains its properties.

It is hypothesized that superconductivity properties emerge from very specific strains induced in the material. Hence why most of the discovered superconductors require either to be cooled down to very low temperatures, or to be under high pressure. Both shrink the material.

What this paper claims is that they have achieved a similar effect chemically by replacing some lead ions with copper ions, which are a bit smaller (87 pm for Cu vs 133 pm for Pb). This shrinks the material by 0.48%, and that added strain induces superconductivity. This is why it apparently works at room temperature — you no longer need high pressures or extreme cold to create the needed deformation.

Can’t really comment on how actually feasible or long-lasting this effect is, but it looks surprisingly promising. At least as a starting point for future experiments. Can’t wait for other labs’ reproduction attempts. If it turns out to be true, this is an extremely important and world-changing discovery.

Fingers crossed :)

That’s super cool! Hopefully it can be confirmed in other labs soon.

Then the next big hurdle will be figuring out a way to mass produce it in a cost-effective manner.
- What's very cool is that the recipe in the paper is trivial. It's just lead, phosphorus, and copper, fired in a kiln under a vacuum. With a couple hundred dollars of equipment, one could even attempt to make this at home (wouldn't recommend with the powdered lead tho).
  
  So if the claim holds up true, mass producing it should be quick.
  
  That said, the lead makes this material not fit for use for a lot of applications due to its toxicity.
- No, it’s room temperature.

The heat capacity results indicated that the new model is suitable for explaining the superconductivity of LK-99. The unique structure of LK-99 that allows the minute distorted structure to be maintained in the interfaces is the most important factor that LK-99 maintains and exhibits superconductivity at room temperatures and ambient pressure.

If true, that would have world-changing implications. I tried looking, but didn't see a paper to go with it or a second lab to confirm it. Still, very cool and hopefully will be confirmed.

Here’s the full paper
- Thanks! Will take a look.
Very true that it needs to be confirmed, but worth mentioning that every paper in history was at one point or another unreviewed and uncooborated. The fact that this isn’t yet doesn’t inherently mean anything bad for the quality of the results.

I’m just a biologist so I can’t weigh in to the credibility of the paper beyond that

I'll believe it when science Youtubers start making videos on it.

There already is a youtube video of the purported Meissner effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtVjGWpbE7k
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=EtVjGWpbE7k
  
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  
  I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
- And this is a piece magnetically levitating. Could still be faked, but this is more than the usual "after massaging the numbers there's a trace of a barely discernible effect" stuff that you usually find in faked or otherwise misinterpreted results.