A New Superconductor

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Marina W
2/13/19
Atoms Blog
Have you ever heard of a superconductor? If not, you probably at least know what a conductor is. A conductor has the ability to transmit, or conduct heat, electricity, or sound from object to object, hence the name. While efficient and helpful, superconductors do their job even better, by transmitting electricity without any resistance. One flaw of superconductors though is that in order to work, they must be chilled. This makes it hard to incorporate superconductors into everyday objects such as toasters and phones.

If there was such a superconductor that didn’t have to be chilled, it could be incorporated into electronic devices and transmission wires such as the phone, saving a ton of energy lost to electrical resistance. The record holder currently is hydrogen sulfide, which only works when it’s compressed and below a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius, or about -94 degrees Fahrenheit. But the new compound discovered could knock hydrogen sulfide off it’s record-holding platform.

Studies have shown that a hydrogen and lanthanum compound extremely pressurized could operate under temperatures of -13 degrees Celsius, or about 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature of a moderately freezing winter day. Other samples have showed signs of superconductivity at 7 degrees Celsius, or 44.6 degrees Fahrenheit- the average temperature of a spring day! This could become an efficient replacement for hydrogen sulfide after more research is conducted. All the studies conducted have the same thing in common- the compound of hydrogen and lanthanum exhibits signs of superconductivity at a much higher temperature than hydrogen sulfide currently does.

With future research, perhaps the compound of lanthanum and hydrogen will overtake our old method of using hydrogen sulfide into the dust. If this new compound is put into electronic devices, this could save a lot of energy, helping to power the earth efficiently. Soon after, this compound could be incorporated into all everyday objects for increased power usage at a fraction of a price.





illustration of LaH10Image result for hydrogen sulfide

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