Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Man-Made Material Pushes the Bounds of Superconductivity

Posted by samzenpus on from the greased-lightning dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A multi-university team of researchers has artificially engineered a unique multilayer material that could lead to breakthroughs in both superconductivity research and in real-world applications. The researchers can tailor the material, which seamlessly alternates between metal and oxide layers, to achieve extraordinary superconducting properties — in particular, the ability to transport much more electrical current than non-engineered materials."

29 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Resistance by colinrichardday · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shall we call this material Borgium? Resistance is useless!

    1. Re:Resistance by Greyfox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wouldn't that be Vogoninium?

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    2. Re:Resistance by sconeu · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, you're right. Borgium would have futile resistance.

      We are Ohm of Borg. Resistance is Voltage divided by Current.
      We are Coulomb of Borg. Resistance is futile. Voltage, on the other hand, has potential.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  2. Resistance and temperature by fyngyrz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The question -- as it always is -- is: What is the operating temperature range for this material? Because if it's still "refrigerate or die", applications will not expand much beyond where they are today.

    If we get superconductors we can use as power transmission lines in normal environmental temperature ranges, that'll be a serious game-changer.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    1. Re:Resistance and temperature by i.am.delf · · Score: 5, Informative

      The application I can see is stronger magnets. Right now the superconducting magnets we have are limited by the amount of current they can carry before they start misbehaving. The crappy part is that while we have superconductors which work at liquid nitrogen temperatures, they can't carry a whole lot of current. This leads to MRIs and NMRs using liquid helium cooled magnets which cost a ton of money to maintain. If this material can operate at LN2 temperatures and give the current density of the liquid helium magnets, they will have an amazing product on their hands.

    2. Re:Resistance and temperature by dbIII · · Score: 2

      More current is already a game changer. Bulk liquid nitrogen is cheaper than milk, so there's still a few applications this can be used for while work progresses towards room temperature superconductivity.

    3. Re:Resistance and temperature by Guppy · · Score: 5, Informative

      The question -- as it always is -- is: What is the operating temperature range for this material? Because if it's still "refrigerate or die", applications will not expand much beyond where they are today.

      I don't have a subscription to Nature Materials, but squinting at the thumbnail graphs available for free, looks like the transition temperature is somewhere around 17-24 Kelvin. As far as I can tell, main advance here is in improving Critical Current Density and Irreversibility Field limits.

      Also, tag for story summary: whereisthefuckingpaper

    4. Re:Resistance and temperature by Drishmung · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The question -- as it always is -- is: What is the operating temperature range for this material?

      They don't say. The most we know from the article is

      its effective operating temperature is higher than that of conventional superconducting materials such as niobium, lead or mercury.

      which means higher than 9.3K (Nb critical temperature).

      The article also says:

      Currently, even unconventional high-temperature superconductors operate below -369 degrees Fahrenheit.

      or about 50K. Still below the magic 77K of liquid Nitrogen at which point things become economically interesting---and I can't see any statement in the article that the substance is even as good as, never mind better than 50K, although there is an implication that it is.

      All in all, the article says remarkably little, at some length.

      --
      Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
    5. Re:Resistance and temperature by Guppy · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the Supplementary Materials PDF:

      Tc,p = 0 Values

      (STO 1.2nm / Co-doped Ba-122 13nm) x24 . . .= 17.0K
      (O-Ba-122 3nm / Co-doped Ba-122 20nm) x24 . = 22.3K
      (O-Ba-122 3nm / Co-doped Ba-122 20nm) x16 . = 22.9K
      (O-Ba-122 3nm / Co-doped Ba-122 13nm) x24 . = 22.4K
      (O-Ba-122 3nm / Co-doped Ba-122 13nm) x16 . = 22.5K
      Single layer Co-doped Ba-122 . . . . . . . .= 20.5K

    6. Re:Resistance and temperature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not true, even a liquid nitrogen, or dry ice, superconductor that can carry large current will have an enormous effect on technology. It is simplistic to think that power transmission is the major application. It is not even an important one in the grand scheme of things. Even at that level it would be possible to have an MRI in every doctors office. If we get to -20, it means devices that can work with normal compressor based refrigeration, which means the technology can be anywhere even in the home.

    7. Re:Resistance and temperature by plover · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Power transmission is the easy one to see a payoff for, though. I've seen various sources claiming power line losses run anywhere from 7% to 17%. Also consider the energy we use shipping trains full of coal from the mines across the country to the generating plants located near the consumers. Superconductive lines could enable them to build power plants near the mines and push the current over the grid.

      Even if the tech was expensive to install on a per mile basis, if they could swap out the existing lines for superconducting lines, they wouldn't have to sign new land leasing deals for extra towers. Superconductors would enable them to shove 10X or 100X the power over the grid without having drastic changes elsewhere.

      That's one of the biggest limiting factors to wind generation today, by the way. The grid across the sparsely populated windy plains was originally designed to carry just a few tens of megawatts into a region that doesn't have large industrial plants and doesn't see a high demand. It was never designed to carry gigawatts of power out of the area. New windmills are actually straining the existing grid. An efficient distribution network would let those prairie windmills sell power all the way out to the coasts.

      --
      John
    8. Re:Resistance and temperature by PerMolestiasEruditio · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There are quite a few other relatively cheap options below 77K. In particular using vacuum to lower the temperature of liquid Nitrogen is pretty easy and gets you to 64K with the nitrogen still a liquid. Same trick with liquid Oxygen (also dirt cheap) gets you to 55K and liquid Neon is about 25K (and when we run out of easily mineable Helium it will be cheaper than helium). Liquid Hydrogen can be used at down to 14K using evacuation (20K at atmospheric pressure).

    9. Re:Resistance and temperature by SternisheFan · · Score: 4, Informative
      Here's the story from Science Daily

      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130303154859.htm

    10. Re:Resistance and temperature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not to mention, the "high temperature" superconductors we have now can't be easily made into wire for winding into magnets.

      High temperature is relative here, they mean liquid nitrogen temperatures.

    11. Re:Resistance and temperature by symbolset · · Score: 4, Informative

      You use vacuum to boil off a large fraction of the energy of the liquid nitrogen, leaving the remainder colder than it would normally be at room pressure.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    12. Re:Resistance and temperature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Check this video:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rM04U5BO3Ug

    13. Re: Resistance and temperature by wesley96 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well-maintained power grid can have transmission loss of around 4% as in the case of South Korea and Japan.

      I think this is a practical limit as far as conventional conductors go. Unless the superconductors are ridiculously cost-effective to install and maintain, the benefits will never materialize - i.e. become a game changer.

      To put this into perspective, let's try this. A relatively small country like South Korea still has more than ten thousand miles of transmission lines. Say you replace all that and achieve 4% more power.

      Since the installed power capacity is around 70GW, that means about 3GW, or about three regular nuclear plants. I highly doubt completely redoing the existing transmission infrastructure with conventional means is possible with the cost of building three nuclear plants, let alone a superconducting one. And I haven't even got to the current limits yet.

      This is why, if there's a superconductor breakthrough, I think it'll have more impact on medical uses rather than raw power transmission.


      Disclaimer: I work in the electric power industry.

      --
      Serving time in Aristotelean prison for violating laws of physics
    14. Re:Resistance and temperature by jcr · · Score: 2

      Ah, got it. The phase change draws heat from the liquid into the gas.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    15. Re: Resistance and temperature by jimbolauski · · Score: 2

      Well-maintained power grid can have transmission loss of around 4% as in the case of South Korea and Japan. I think this is a practical limit as far as conventional conductors go. Unless the superconductors are ridiculously cost-effective to install and maintain, the benefits will never materialize - i.e. become a game changer. To put this into perspective, let's try this. A relatively small country like South Korea still has more than ten thousand miles of transmission lines. Say you replace all that and achieve 4% more power. Since the installed power capacity is around 70GW, that means about 3GW, or about three regular nuclear plants. I highly doubt completely redoing the existing transmission infrastructure with conventional means is possible with the cost of building three nuclear plants, let alone a superconducting one. And I haven't even got to the current limits yet. This is why, if there's a superconductor breakthrough, I think it'll have more impact on medical uses rather than raw power transmission. Disclaimer: I work in the electric power industry.

      If the superconductor material was effective at normal temperatures and was not too expensive per mile (ROI of 5-10 years) it certainly would. The new cable would simply be patched in on existing lines when those needed to be replaced and used in all new lines. It absolutely would not be cost effective to do a full infrastructure replacement but if lines have to be replaced then you are not incurring extra labor cost for replacement.

      --
      Knowledge = Power
      P= W/t
      t=Money
      Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
    16. Re:Resistance and temperature by justthinkit · · Score: 4, Funny

      So you're the culprit!

      --
      I come here for the love
    17. Re:Resistance and temperature by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 2

      Superconductive lines could enable them to build power plants near the mines and push the current over the grid.

      Not just mines, but any 'source' of energy. Imagine extreme-scale use of wasteland in the Southwest for solar energy collection. (Setup some of those plants over the old nuclear test ranges, even the most extreme environmentalists would have a hard time objecting to 'damaging' the land there. Granted, worker safety is a concern, but you get the idea) Renewable energy's biggest problem is energy transmission and portability.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    18. Re:Resistance and temperature by haruchai · · Score: 2

      Not even close.
      No substance has yet been found to exhibit the 3 properties of superconductors anywhere near the normal freezing point of water.
      Thos properties are 1) zero electrical DC resistance, 2) superconducting phase transition and 3) the Meissner effect ( magnetic levitation through expulsion of magnetic flux )

      No material yet invented or found exhibits these properties above -135 deg C

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  3. Non-Engineered Materials? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What is this non-engineered material you speak of? If there is something that we don't have a stress strain curve for, let's get the sucker to an Instron machine right away.

  4. So why call this a breakthrough? by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They stacked atoms in a very impressive way, but they don't actually say what their fancy new material can do. What's the critical temperature, guys? Why was that not the first question? How much current can it carry compared to other Type II superconductors? If it's an improvement by 3C, it's not a breakthrough. If it's 30C, you'll definitely have my attention.

  5. My vaporware sense is tingling... by mark-t · · Score: 2

    The lack of specifics about the material's properties, such as actual operating range, and in particular, whether or not the material exhibits all of the characteristic phenomena that actual superconductors do suggests to me that this article is about something that has only been theoretically designed, and not actually built and its properties analyzed in a lab.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:My vaporware sense is tingling... by jfengel · · Score: 2

      The lack of specifics comes from reading about it via a news aggregator in the popular press. Going to the horses's mouth gets you all you could possibly want:

      http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmat3575.html

    2. Re:My vaporware sense is tingling... by mark-t · · Score: 2

      Not exactly all I could possibly want there... as the article seems to be behind a paywall, and thus no more informative on the matter than the article that was mentioned in the summary.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  6. What non man made superconductors are there? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    My family used to own a superconductor mine but we had to close it down due to competition from synthetic superconductors... I guess that is the way the cookie crumbles...

  7. Re:Paywalled into obscurity - try this thread inst by EdZ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ultraconductors got killed in the 2008 market crash. Had they not got killed, they were making superconductors out of plastic, they called it Ultraconductor [chavaenergy.com]. (Not to be confused with the speaker cables of the same name). This stuff conducted at room temperature a million times better than silver! I have no doubt they could have done it, had the economy not killed them.

    A viable room-temperature superconductor (even if only unidirectional) would be so useful that I can't believe that the '2008 market crash' was the only factor keeping them from market. Heck, that's Nobel-prize-worthy research if they can prove how it works.

    With patents to back it up rather than peer-reviewed papers, this squarely into 'extraordinary claims without extraordinary results' land.