A Peking University group did get some levitation in an Lk99 replication attempt. Their sample is not a superconductor. They describe the semi-levitation is the result of magnetic torque.
Guo et. al synthesized #LK99 with the published methodology and matched the material composition to the original using X-Ray Diffraction. They observed levitation in the sample and conducted a litany of other tests. pic.twitter.com/iZcK6IYeIw
— Alex Kaplan (@alexkaplan0) August 8, 2023
Additionally, it has been discovered that the Peking university replication attempt of LK-99 used sintering rather than annealing, a completely different process to the one described in the original paper. pic.twitter.com/eg7EZCg2hB
— Floates0x (@floates0x) August 8, 2023
This could mean that sintering does not work and only oxygen annealing. It could also mean that the steps listed in the rushed LK99 papers are incomplete. It can also mean that getting superconductivity into LK99 like samples is hard and rare. It can also mean that there is no superconductivity with LK99 and the class of LK99 like and inspired materials.
I think more thorough investigation needs to be done and more variations checked. We also need to see what the original team has done when they have a complete peer reviewed paper at the end of this month or next month.
An Indian team tried to replicate LK99 but did not get any levitation effects.
Absence of superconductivity in LK-99 at ambient conditions
Kapil Kumar, N. K. Karn, Yogesh Kumar, V.P.S. Awana (CSIR-NPL) Aug 7, 2023.
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