Study of superconducting and magnetic properties of hydrogenated Laves phase compounds

• Grant number: 25/24834-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Physical Metallurgy
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Jefferson da Silva Machado
• Grantee: Larissa Miki Ishikura
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de Lorena (EEL). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Lorena , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 24/03170-9 - Investigation of superconductivity on Laves phases hydrogenated new compounds., AP.R

Abstract

A theoretical proposal by Ashcroft that metallic hydrogen would be superconducting at 270 K under the BCS theory regained attention after the discovery of phonon mediated superconductivity in MgB2 at 39 K by Akimitsu and Muranaka in 2003. Palladium, with a high hydrogen storage capacity in its BCC lattice, was extensively studied for this. This premise extends to intermetallic Laves phase compounds, structures with a high hydrogen storage capacity within tetrahedral interstitial sites. It is pertinent to study these compounds to further understand the correlation between interstitial hydrogen atoms, superconductivity and other phenomena that are susceptible to changes in the Fermi surface of the material, such as magnetism. (AU)