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Materials science

Hydrocarbon superconductors

Nature volume 464, pages 39–41 (2010)Cite this article

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Superconductivity has been discovered in the materials that form when alkali metals react with a solid hydrocarbon. This is the first new class of organic, high-temperature superconductor in a decade.

Hydrocarbons are essential to everyday life — for example, the saturated hydrocarbons known as alkanes are prime constituents of fuels such as petrol. Most people, however, wouldn't think of hydrocarbons as being electrically interesting. But on page 76 of this issue, Mitsuhashi and colleagues1 challenge this preconception with their report of superconductors that are based on a hydrocarbon called picene. These small-molecule-based materials open up new avenues for research into superconductivity.

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Figure 1: Electronic structures of selected π-electron-containing systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Matthew J. Rosseinsky is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZD, UK. m.j.rosseinsky@liverpool.ac.uk;,

    Matthew J. Rosseinsky

  2. Kosmas Prassides is in the Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. k.prassides@durham.ac.uk,

    Kosmas Prassides

Authors
  1. Matthew J. Rosseinsky
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  2. Kosmas Prassides
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Rosseinsky, M., Prassides, K. Hydrocarbon superconductors. Nature 464, 39–41 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/464039a

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