Detect new state of matter

We are familiar with the 3 most common states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. However, in reality, there are at least 15 other states and a group of researchers recently published discoveries about a new state, which can revolutionize how we use and produce energy.

New state of matter

With the naked eye, we can easily distinguish solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter. However, material scientists, who studied all three states as well as more bizarre examples such as plasma , colloids and Bose-Einstein condensate, looked more closely at densities. calculation of each stage, such as density, chemical composition and transmission.

An example of a plasma.

When a group of international experts, including physicists, chemists and materials scientists, tested the phase characteristics of a new material they created in the laboratory, they examined break out something never seen before: A substance that reveals the properties of both insulators, superconductors, metals and magnets.

According to the research report published in Science Advances, scientists created a new substance by settling the crystallization of spherical carbon molecules (a molecule of 60 atoms) and adding it. Rubid alkali metal molecules. They then controlled the distance and pressure between spherical carbon molecules by manipulating rubidium atoms to refine the stages of the new substance, such as turning from solids to liquids by removing atoms from their solid structure.

While transforming the pressure between spherical carbon molecules, the team encountered a phase change, transforming the material from an insulator into a conductor - a process called b, discovered once. first in 1937. They called the new material a Jahn-Teller metal.

Although the discovery still needs to be recognized by repeating the experimental results of other research groups, in other laboratories around the world. But if authenticated by future studies, discovery can create a revolution in how we use and produce energy.

That's because, Jahn-Teller metal can provide a new form of superconductivity that scientists and engineers have been hunting for decades. A superconductor is like an electrical conductor at an effective charge transmission point. Even so, conductive materials, such as copper and aluminum, still have resistors (which interfere with electron flow). This obstacle consumes energy and money. For example, during the transmission of electricity from power plants to households, an estimated 6% of electricity is lost due to resistance.

What makes superconductors great is that they have zero resistance and, in theory, create high-performance electrical devices. However, dozens of materials possessing superconducting properties now only reveal it when cooled to -107.7 degrees Celsius.

Jahn-Teller materials can overcome this drawback. By studying its transformation from an insulator to a conductor, scientists can better understand the Jahn-Teller effect and apply it to create a high-temperature superconductor. more and do not need to reveal the characteristics of cold temperatures above.