A previous study carried out in 2010 at the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) located in Japan demonstrated the transition of iron telluride compounds to superconducting state when they were boiled in alcoholic beverages.
A recent study which is an extension of the previous study was carried out by NIMS in conjunction with the Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB) at Keio University. The findings explain the reason for the induced superconductivity and also identify the components in alcoholic beverages that lead to superconductivity.
The team adopted a metabolomics technique called Capillary Electrophoresis Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer devised by IAB to quantify the composition of six types of alcoholic beverages, namely, white wine, red wine, Japanese sake, whisky, beer and a Japanese distilled beverage called shochu. By evaluating the components on the basis of the superconducting phases’ volume fractions, the components that are potential candidates for inducing superconductivity were identified. The team found that citric acid, malic acid and â-alanine which exhibit a great degree of correlation in the potential candidates also had an impact on superconductivity. It was found that excess iron ions impede superconductivity and when iron telluride is simmered in alcohol, those alcohol components with organic acids and featuring chelating effects induced superconductivity by eliminating the excess iron ions. The negative effect exerted by the excess iron ions on superconductivity is envisaged to be present in other superconductors derived from iron. The findings of this study are anticipated to present new research and development strategies for iron-based superconductors.
Source: http://www.nims.go.jp/eng