40 Examples of Superconducting Materials

Superconducting Materials

The superconducting materials They are those that, under certain conditions, have the ability to conduct electrical current without any resistance or loss of energy. For example: Mercury, Lithium, Titanium, Cadmium.

The resistance of a superconductor, unlike what occurs in drivers such as gold and silver, drops sharply to zero when the material cools below its temperature Critical: An electric current flowing in a spiral of superconducting wire can circulate indefinitely without power supply.

Discovery of superconductivity

Superconductivity is a phenomenon linked to quantum mechanics and was discovered in 1911 by the Dutch scientist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who observed that the electrical resistance of mercury disappeared when it was cooled to a temperature of 4 Kelvin (-269 ° C).

Superconductivity normally occurs at low temperatures, although for a conductor to be able to function as a superconductor, it is also necessary that a current or magnetic field is not exceeded critics.

The first superconductors discovered operated at critical temperatures of around 250 ° C below zero. High-temperature superconductors were discovered in the 1980s, which had a critical temperature of about 179 ° C below zero. This made the study of materials and it also opened the door to the existence of superconductors at room temperature.

Classification of superconducting materials

If a weak external magnetic field is applied to a superconductor, it repels it. When the magnetic field is high, the material is no longer superconducting. This critical field stops a material from being superconducting.

An additional classification that is made regarding these conductors is the one that divides them according to their ability to completely shield an external magnetic field. Type I superconductors completely prevent the penetration of external magnetic fields, while superconductors Type II superconductors are imperfect in the sense that they allow the magnetic field to penetrate their inside.

Uses and applications of superconducting materials

Until now, the main utility of superconductors is the production of very strong magnetic fields without loss of energy. Thus, they have applications in medicine, in the construction of particle accelerators and the control of nuclear reactors, among other things. The development of superconductors also makes it possible to advance in the study of computers more faster and with greater memory, high speed magnetic levitation trains and the possibility of generate electric power more efficiently.

In addition, superconductors are used in laboratories of physical for research purposes, for example in nuclear magnetic resonance studies and high resolution electron microscopy.

Methods of obtaining superconducting materials

Obtaining superconducting materials is subject, for the moment, to achieving temperatures extremely low, which is why elements such as helium or nitrogen are usually used liquid.

Examples of superconducting materials