Superconductor breakthrough could power new advances

24 Jul 2010

1

The first batch of a new range of powerful superconductors which could revolutionise the production of machines like hospital MRI scanners and protect the national grid has been developed by scientists.

Engineers at the University of Cambridge used new techniques to manufacture high-temperature superconducting materials, producing samples that can carry record quantities of electrical current for their type and size.

The breakthrough has improved the effectiveness of yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) and a related family of superconducting materials. It raises the prospect of more powerful and affordable samples that could have huge benefits in a number of fields.

Superconductors are materials which, when cooled to a certain temperature, can carry an electrical current without losing energy in the process. This makes them different from standard conductors, such as copper wire, which resist the flow of current with the result that some energy is lost.

In the long term, this means that superconductors could have important environmental benefits by increasing energy efficiency.

At the moment, up to 10 per cent of the electrical energy generated by British power stations is lost before it reaches the user because of resistance in the power lines.
 
Superconductors offer no such resistance, could be used to store large quantities of energy until needed and in some cases can carry 100 times more current than copper.

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