science

Informing The Search For Superconducting Materials


AsianScientist (Nov. 2, 2018) – A research group in Japan has applied materials informatics (MI) approaches to discover new superconducting materials. Their findings are published in the journal Applied Physics Express.

Superconducting materials which enable long-distance electricity transmission, without energy loss due to the absence of electrical resistance, are key to solving environmental and energy issues. Conventionally, researchers searching for new superconducting materials have relied on published information on material properties, such as crystalline structures and valence numbers, and their own experience and intuition. However, this approach is time-consuming, costly and very difficult because it requires extensive and exhaustive synthesis of related materials.

In the present study, researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, and Ehime University, Japan, discovered novel materials that exhibit superconductivity under high pressures using a MI methodology. They took advantage of the AtomWork database, which contains more than 100,000 pieces of data on inorganic crystal structures.

The team first selected approximately 1,500 candidate material groups whose electronic states could be determined through calculation. They then narrowed this list down to 27 materials with desirable superconducting properties by performing electronic state calculations. From these 27, two materials—SnBi2Se4 and PbBi2Te4—were ultimately chosen because they were relatively easy to synthesize.

After synthesizing the two materials, the scientists checked for superconductivity under high pressures using an electrical resistivity measuring device. The team found that the superconducting transition temperatures of these materials increase with increasing pressure.

Further experiments revealed that these newly discovered materials may have superb thermoelectric properties in addition to superconductivity.

“The method we developed may be applicable to the development of various functional materials, including superconductors. In future studies, we hope to discover innovative functional materials, such as room-temperature superconducting materials, by including a wider range of materials in our studies and increasing the accuracy of the parameters relevant to desirable properties,” said the researchers.

The article can be found at: Matsumoto et al. (2018) Two Pressure-induced Superconducting Transitions in SnBi2Se4 Explored by Data-driven Materials Search: New Approach to Developing Novel Functional Materials Including Thermoelectric and Superconducting Materials.

———

Source: National Institute for Materials Science; Photo: Shutterstock.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.