Researchers develop new materials for superconducting devices
19 Jan '21
Scientists from Russia, China and the U.S. teamed up in a successful effort to predict and then experimentally develop barium superhydride – a new high-temperature superconductor. Results of the research have been published in English in Nature Communications.
Special crystal structure prediction software called USPEX, developed by Prof. Artem Oganov, a Russian chemist and crystallographer, has been instrumental in achieving the success. Chemists and material science specialists from Prof. Oganov’s laboratory at Skoltech University in Moscow partnered with their international colleagues as they used the USPEX to analyze and experimentally obtain the new barium compound which has been proven to be extremely rich in hydrogen and possess superconductivity properties.
BaH12 appears to be a very unusual substance as its molecular structure enables superconductivity at temperatures below minus 253°C.
The research effort adds substantial clarity to outstanding important issues regarding chemical structures that could one day be used at room-temperature superconductors inside actual gadgets improving the quality of our life.