Probable cause for the superconductor-like properties of alkane-wetted graphite and single-layer graphene above room temperature under ambient pressure

TL;DR

This paper proposes a probable mechanism involving Fermi surface nesting and acoustic phonons to explain superconductor-like properties in alkane-wetted graphite and graphene above room temperature, supported by experimental correlations.

Contribution

It introduces a new theoretical explanation for high-temperature superconductor-like behavior in alkane-wetted graphene and graphite, linking it to electron pairing driven by Fermi surface nesting and phonons.

Findings

Superconductor-like properties observed above room temperature.

Tc increases linearly with alkane molecular weight.

Predictions made for experimental verification.

Abstract

Recently Kawashima has reported that, when wetted with alkanes, several forms of graphite and single-layer graphene exhibit superconductor-like properties above room temperature under ambient pressure [AIP Adv. 2013, 3, 052132; arXiv:1612.05294; arXiv:1801.09376]. Under the assumption that these seemingly unlikely properties arise from the presence of paired electrons brought about by the alkane-wetting, we explored their implications to arrive at a probable mechanism for strong electron-pairing driven by Fermi surface nesting and acoustic phonon. This mechanism explains why alkane-wetting is essential for the graphene systems to become superconductor-like above room temperature and why the Tc of alkane-wetted pitch-based graphite fibers increases almost linearly from 363 to 504 K with increasing the molecular weight of alkane from heptane to hexadecane. It also provides a number of experimentally-verifiable predictions, the confirmation of which will provide a strong support for the superconductivity driven by Fermi surface nesting and acoustic phonon.