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INTROUCTION to Ultraconductors
Superconductivity is the phenomenon
in which a material losses all its electrical resistance and allowing electric
current to flow without dissipation or loss of energy. The atoms in materials
vibrate due to thermal energy contained in the materials: the higher the temperature,
the more the atoms vibrate. An ordinary conductor's electrical resistance is caused
by these atomic vibrations, which obstruct the movement of the electrons forming
the current. If an ordinary conductor were to be cooled to a temperature of absolute
zero, atomic vibrations would cease, electrons would flow without obstruction,
and electrical resistance would fall to zero. A temperature of absolute zero cannot
be achieved in practice, 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 (-269o C). Many other superconducting
metals and alloys were subsequently discovered but, until 1986, the highest temperature
at which superconducting properties were achieved was around 23 K (-250o C) with
the niobium-germanium alloy (Nb3Ge) In
1986 George Bednorz and Alex Muller discovered a metal oxide that exhibited superconductivity
at the relatively high temperature of 30 K (-243o C). This led to the discovery
of ceramic oxides that super conduct at even higher temperatures. In 1988, and
oxide of thallium, calcium, barium and copper (Ti2Ca2Ba2Cu3O10) displayed superconductivity
at 125 K (-148o C), and, in 1993 a family based on copper oxide and mercury attained
superconductivity at 160 K (-113o C). These "high-temperature" superconductors
are all the more noteworthy because ceramics are usually extremely good insulators.
Like ceramics,
most organic compounds are strong insulators; however, some organic materials
known as organic synthetic metals do display both conductivity and superconductivity.
In the early 1990's, one such compound was shown to super conduct at approximately
33 K (-240o C). Although this is well below the temperatures achieved for ceramic
oxides, organic superconductors are considered to have great potential for the
future. New superconducting
materials are being discovered on a regular basis, and the search is on for room
temperature superconductors, 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 perspective,
ultraconductors are a fundamentally new and enabling technology. These materials
are claimed to conduct electricity at least 100,000 times better than gold, silver
or copper. Technical
introduction Ultraconductors
are patented1 polymers being developed for commercial applications by Room Temperature
Superconductors Inc (ROOTS). The materials exhibit a characteristic set of properties
including conductivity and current carrying capacity equivalent to superconductors,
but without the need for cryogenic support. The
Ultraconductor properties appear in thin (5 - 100 micron) films of certain dielectric
polymers following an induced, non-reversible transition at zero field and at
ambient temperatures >> 300 K. This transition resembles a formal insulator
to conductor (I-C) transition. The
base polymers used are certain viscous polar elastomers, obtained by polymerization
in the laboratory or as purchased from industrial suppliers. Seven chemically
distinct polymers have been demonstrated to date.
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