Signatures of a high-temperature collective electronic phase with superconductivity-like characteristics and a giant pressure effect in networks of boron-doped ultrathin carbon nanotubes
Abstract
We present data consistent with a high-temperature collective electronic phase with superconductivity-like characteristics in three dimensional networks of boron doped, ultrathin carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown inside the ~5 Å channels of ZSM 5 zeolite. Confinement stabilizes (2,1) CNTs that are otherwise dynamically unstable, while boron doping shifts the Fermi level toward a van Hove singularity, as supported by ab-initio calculations. The resulting CNT network exhibits multiple, mutually consistent signatures of an electronic condensate with the typical characteristics of a high temperature superconductor at ambient pressure. DC magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements reveal the onset of a Meissner response between 220 and 250 K, with compacted samples achieving up to 93% of full diamagnetic screening. Electrical transport shows a sharp resistive transition with extrapolated Tc ≈ 239 K and vanishing resistance in optimized samples. Specific heat measurements display a reproducible anomaly at 233-236 K that broadens under magnetic field, consistent with strong fluctuations. Point contact spectroscopy identifies three energy gaps, including a leading gap of ~30 meV whose temperature dependence follows BCS expectations for Tc ≈ 224 K, and exhibits particle-hole symmetry and Andreev reflection. Remarkably, applying pressures below 0.1 kbar enhances Tc by nearly 100 K and modulates the room temperature resistance by more than three orders of magnitude, suggesting a pressure driven 1D to 3D crossover in the CNT network. These results identify boron doped ultrathin CNT networks as a promising carbon-based platform for near ambient temperature superconductivity and reveal an unusually large pressure sensitivity with potential technological relevance.
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BibTeX
@misc{wang2026signatures,
title = {{Signatures of a high-temperature collective electronic phase with superconductivity-like characteristics and a giant pressure effect in networks of boron-doped ultrathin carbon nanotubes}},
author = {Y Wang and T H Koo and R Huang and Y H Ng and T T Lortz and T Zhang and W M Chan and Y Hou and J Pan and S Krämer and A Demuer and R Lortz and N Wang and P Sheng},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.carbon.2026.122250},
eprint = {2509.19255},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05801600v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Signatures of a high-temperature collective electronic phase with superconductivity-like characteristics and a giant pressure effect in networks of boron-doped ultrathin carbon nanotubes
AU - Y Wang
AU - T H Koo
AU - R Huang
AU - Y H Ng
AU - T T Lortz
AU - T Zhang
AU - W M Chan
AU - Y Hou
AU - J Pan
AU - S Krämer
AU - A Demuer
AU - R Lortz
AU - N Wang
AU - P Sheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - HAL
DO - 10.1016/j.carbon.2026.122250
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05801600v1
AB - We present data consistent with a high-temperature collective electronic phase with superconductivity-like characteristics in three dimensional networks of boron doped, ultrathin carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown inside the ~5 Å channels of ZSM 5 zeolite. Confinement stabilizes (2,1) CNTs that are otherwise dynamically unstable, while boron doping shifts the Fermi level toward a van Hove singularity, as supported by ab-initio calculations. The resulting CNT network exhibits multiple, mutually consistent signatures of an electronic condensate with the typical characteristics of a high temperature superconductor at ambient pressure. DC magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements reveal the onset of a Meissner response between 220 and 250 K, with compacted samples achieving up to 93% of full diamagnetic screening. Electrical transport shows a sharp resistive transition with extrapolated Tc ≈ 239 K and vanishing resistance in optimized samples. Specific heat measurements display a reproducible anomaly at 233-236 K that broadens under magnetic field, consistent with strong fluctuations. Point contact spectroscopy identifies three energy gaps, including a leading gap of ~30 meV whose temperature dependence follows BCS expectations for Tc ≈ 224 K, and exhibits particle-hole symmetry and Andreev reflection. Remarkably, applying pressures below 0.1 kbar enhances Tc by nearly 100 K and modulates the room temperature resistance by more than three orders of magnitude, suggesting a pressure driven 1D to 3D crossover in the CNT network. These results identify boron doped ultrathin CNT networks as a promising carbon-based platform for near ambient temperature superconductivity and reveal an unusually large pressure sensitivity with potential technological relevance.
ER -