In a recent claim, modified lead-apatite was said to exhibit ambient-pressure room-temperature superconductivity, leading to widespread excitement. The compound was created by sintering lanarkite and copper(I) phosphide. To investigate this claim, the authors synthesized Pb2SO5, Cu3P, and the modified lead-apatite Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O, analyzing their electrical and magnetic properties. However, the results showed that Pb2SO5 is an insulating diamagnet, Cu3P is a paramagnetic metal, and the Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O compound exhibits semiconductor-like behavior with a high resistivity. Furthermore, no repulsion or magnetic levitation was observed when the compound was placed on top of a magnet. These findings suggest that the claim of room-temperature superconductivity in modified lead-apatite needs further examination.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.16802