It's official: graphene has been made into a superconductor in its natural state - which means electrical current can flow through it with zero resistance.
Last year, physicists managed to do this by doping graphene with calcium atoms, but this is the first time researchers have achieved superconductivity in the material without having to alter it. And the results so far show that the material achieves an incredibly rare type of superconductivity that's even crazier and more powerful than scientists expected.
The new research is a big deal even for a material as innately impressive as graphene, seeing as superconductivity is the key to more efficient electronics, better power grids, and new medical technology.
"It has long been postulated that, under the right conditions, graphene should undergo a superconducting transition, but can't," said one of the researchers, Jason Robinson from the University of Cambridge in the UK.
Now, he says his team has managed to awaken that ability. And it appears graphene isn't just a normal superconductor - it could be conducting current with no resistance as a result of an unconfirmed and elusive type of superconductivity called p-wave state. Further research is needed to confirm this result, but it's a pretty intriguing possibility.
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