Semiconducting Transport in Pb 10− X Cu x (PO 4 ) 6 O Sintered from Pb 2 SO 5 and Cu 3 P

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 33; no. 48
• Main Authors: Liu, Li, Meng, Ziang, Wang, Xiaoning, Chen, Hongyu, Duan, Zhiyuan, Zhou, Xiaorong, Yan, Han, Qin, Peixin, Liu, Zhiqi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-11-2023
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202308938

Abstract
The recent claim on the discovery of ambient‐pressure room‐temperature superconductivity in Cu‐doped lead‐apatite has attracted sensational attention. The intriguing compound has been fabricated by sintering lanarkite (Pb
2
SO
5
) and copper(І) phosphide (Cu
3
P). To verify this exciting claim, Pb
2
SO
5
, Cu
3
P, and finally the modified lead‐apatite Pb
10−
x
Cu
x
(PO
4
)
6
O have been successfully synthesized. Detailed electrical transport and magnetic properties of these compounds are systematically analyzed. It turns out that Pb
2
SO
5
is a highly insulating diamagnet and Cu
3
P is a paramagnetic metal. The obtained nominal Pb
10−
x
Cu
x
(PO
4
)
6
O compound sintered from Pb
2
SO
5
and Cu
3
P exhibits semiconductor‐like transport behavior with a large room‐temperature resistivity of ≈1.94 × 10
4
Ω·cm, although the major phase of the compound shows consistent X‐ray diffraction spectrum with the previously reported structure data. In addition, when a Pb
10−
x
Cu
x
(PO
4
)
6
O pellet pressed from uniformly ground powder is located on top of a commercial Nd
2
Fe
14
B magnet at room temperature, no repulsion can be felt and no magnetic levitation is observed either. The large difference in electrical and magnetic properties between the compounds and the previously reported compounds might be induced by distinct fine crystallographic structures, diverse multi‐phase distributions, and different concentrations of impurity phases such as Cu
2
S, all of which deserve further study.