4 ms·

What room+ temperature ceramic superconductors are there? Why would this not still be immensely useful anywhere a ceramic superconductor is currently used?

sschueller 3y ago
I said high temp. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth_strontium_calcium_copper_oxide https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth_strontium_calcium_co...
- anonymousab 3y ago
  ~104k is a world of difference from ambient room temperature.
  - fooker 3y ago
    LN2 is cheap and can be maintained below 77k without a lot of infrastructure. So, a 104K superconductor is well within the range of being practically useful.
    - anonymousab 3y ago
      I didn't say other superconductors were not useful. I was saying that one that can be used at higher, room temperature temps is at the very least a new, useful thing. That calling it "limited in usability" is odd when existing ceramic superconductors with considerably cooler temperature requirements are already useful?
  - sschueller 3y ago
    There is also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_barium_copper_oxide https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_barium_copper_oxide which was discovered in 1986 and is above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. But there are no applicable uses as of now outside a lab.
    - howenterprisey 3y ago
      Still technically in a lab for now, but eventually not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARC_fusion_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARC_fusion_reactor > ARC uses rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) high-temperature superconductor magnets in place of copper wiring or conventional low-temperature superconductors. These magnets can be run at much higher field strengths, 23 T, roughly doubling the magnetic field on the plasma axis.
    - soerxpso 3y ago
      This will be sufficient as soon as you can find a way to market a smartphone that only works while standing in a freezer. There's a world of difference between "above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen" and "in a room that people can use consumer electronics in."
- mhb 3y ago
  And we already have room temperature conductors...
fooker 3y ago
Because liquid nitrogen is fairly cheap, and is usually needed anyway for cooling other components of complex systems.

sschueller 3y ago

I said high temp. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth_strontium_calcium_copper_oxide https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth_strontium_calcium_co...

anonymousab 3y ago
~104k is a world of difference from ambient room temperature.
- fooker 3y ago
  LN2 is cheap and can be maintained below 77k without a lot of infrastructure. So, a 104K superconductor is well within the range of being practically useful.
  - anonymousab 3y ago
    I didn't say other superconductors were not useful. I was saying that one that can be used at higher, room temperature temps is at the very least a new, useful thing. That calling it "limited in usability" is odd when existing ceramic superconductors with considerably cooler temperature requirements are already useful?
- sschueller 3y ago
  There is also https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_barium_copper_oxide https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium_barium_copper_oxide which was discovered in 1986 and is above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. But there are no applicable uses as of now outside a lab.
  - howenterprisey 3y ago
    Still technically in a lab for now, but eventually not: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARC_fusion_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARC_fusion_reactor > ARC uses rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) high-temperature superconductor magnets in place of copper wiring or conventional low-temperature superconductors. These magnets can be run at much higher field strengths, 23 T, roughly doubling the magnetic field on the plasma axis.
  - soerxpso 3y ago
    This will be sufficient as soon as you can find a way to market a smartphone that only works while standing in a freezer. There's a world of difference between "above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen" and "in a room that people can use consumer electronics in."
mhb 3y ago
And we already have room temperature conductors...

fooker 3y ago

Because liquid nitrogen is fairly cheap, and is usually needed anyway for cooling other components of complex systems.