Superconductivity has been found in various material such as metals and oxides with a history more than a hundred years. Now the critical temperature of superconductivity has entered the liquid nitrogen temperature range under normal pressure. However, the research on the theory of superconductivity has been relatively slow. The traditional BCS theory provides a good explanation for metal superconductors with low critical temperatures, but is difficult to apply to oxide superconductors with high critical temperatures.

Recently, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed a new phenomenological model for the critical temperature of superconductivity based on the microscopic interaction between atoms. The researchers found that the critical temperature of superconductivity is closely related to several key parameters of materials, and then proposed the correlation formula between them. The model is also supported using the experimental data of superconducting metals and oxide from the literature. It was found that although superconducting metals and oxide differ greatly in crystal structure, chemical bonds and physical properties, the experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.

The research has been published in Journal of Materiomics (DOI: 10.1016/j.jmat.2026.101340), and a brief simulation of some experimental data has been published in Journal of Inorganic Materials (DOI: 10.15541/jim20260128). Dr. candidate Zi'an Liu and Associate Professor Zhiqiang Gao are co first authors of the paper, and Professor Xun Shi is the corresponding author of the paper.

Links:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmat.2026.101340

https://www.jim.org.cn/CN/10.15541/jim20260128

Contact: Xun Shi

Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

E-mail: xshi@mail.sic.ac.cn

Published online: October 19, 2026