2023-08-09 07:43:44
The reproduction of LK-99, a material presented as revolutionary, arouses reservations within the scientific community. In question, experiments carried out with mixed results.
It is supposed to “open a new era for humanity”, according to the scientists who discovered it. Finally, LK-99, an alloy composed of lead and apatite, arouses more contrasting reactions within the scientific community.
Unveiled in a report published by South Korean researchers, this material would be capable of reaching superconductivity at room temperature. This characteristic allows it to conduct current without any loss, unlike copper for example, which might upset many areas such as transport or energy. Its use might thus make it possible to achieve economies of scope and limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Inconclusive experiences
If the promise is enticing, the protocol leading to the conclusion of the South Korean scientists must be able to be repeated and subject to peer review, and for this, be officially published in a scientific journal.
However, in a series of tweets published on August 8 on Twitter, the Condensed Matter Physics Research Center of the university of maryland (CMTC), in the United States, evokes publications of several universities and laboratories in the world which tried to reproduce the experiment carried out by the South Korean scientists on the LK-99. But these entities explain that they were unable to reproduce the principle of superconductivity at room temperature.
“Tonight, ICQM, a leading research center in China (which has several CMTC alumni on its faculty), published an important pre-paper in which it finds no superconductivity, but a small amount of ferromagnetism (not diamagnetism) in tiny flakes of LK99 samples”, details, for example, the CMTC.
Another attempt, carried out this time by Indian researchers, also leads to the absence of superconductivity at ambient temperature of the famous LK-99.
“Poor quality material”
The American academic body concludes, pithy, that “LK-99 is not a superconductor, even at room temperature (or very low temperature). It is a poor quality material […]. No need to fight with the truth. The data has spoken.”
This is not the first time that doubts have been raised regarding the reality of superconductivity at room temperature. Already, the journal Science, a reference in the scientific world, published an article to discuss his uncertainties regarding the discovery of the South Korean researchers.
However, on August 1, a team of Chinese researchers announced that they had succeeded in reproducing this breakthrough for the first time. It will therefore take a little patience to see the emergence of a scientific consensus on the effectiveness, or not, of LK-99 and its superconductivity at room temperature. In the meantime, research continues.
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