Superconductivity is the phenomenon in which a material loses all its electrical resistance and allows the electric current to flow without dissipation or loss of energy. The atoms of the materials vibrate because of the thermal energy contained in the materials: the higher the temperature, the more atoms vibrate. The electrical resistance of an ordinary conductor is caused by these atomic vibrations, which obstruct the movement of the electrons that form the current. If an ordinary conductor were cooled to an absolute zero temperature, the atomic vibrations would cease, the electrons would flow unobstructed and the electrical resistance would drop to zero. In practice an absolute zero temperature can not be reached, but some materials exhibit superconducting characteristics at higher temperatures.
In 1911, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity in mercury at a temperature of approximately 4 K (-269 ° C). Many other superconducting metals and alloys were then discovered, but until 1986 the highest temperature at which the superconducting properties were reached was about 23 K (-250 ° C) with the niobium-germanium (Nb3Ge) alloy. In 1986, George Bednorz and Alex Muller discovered a metal oxide exhibiting superconductivity at a relatively high temperature of 30 K (-243 ° C). This led to the discovery of ceramic oxides that super lead to even higher temperatures. In 1988, thallium, calcium, barium and copper oxide (Ti2Ca2Ba2Cu3O10) showed superconductivity at 125 K (-148 ° C), and in 1993 a family based on copper oxide and mercury reached superconductivity at 160 K (-113 ° C) . These "high temperature" superconductors are all the more worthy of mention since ceramics are usually an extremely good insulator.
Like pottery, most organic compounds are strong insulators; However, some organic materials known as organic synthetic metals show both conductivity and superconductivity. In the early 1990s, a compound of this type was shown to be in excess of about 33 K (-240 ° C). Although this is far below the temperatures reached for ceramic oxides, it is considered that organic superconductors have great potential for the future. New superconducting materials are being discovered regularly, and the quest is for superconductors of ambient temperature, which, if discovered, are expected to revolutionize electronics. Room temperature superconductors (ultraconductors) are being developed for commercial applications by Room Temperature Superconductors Inc. (ROOTS). Ultraconductors are the result of more than 16 years of scientific research, independent laboratory testing and eight years of engineering development. From an engineering point of view, ultraconductors are a fundamentally new and enabling technology. It is claimed that these materials conduct electricity at least 100,000 times better than gold, silver or copper.