Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders
Abstract
Version Lineage (Before v1 vs. After v2)
Initial submission claiming zero resistance at 312 K without Cu2S phase separation controls.
Public Signed Referee Reports (4)
Summary: The sharp resistivity drop at 312 K coincides with the known first-order structural phase transition of Cu2S (chalcocite) from monoclinic to hexagonal at 310–315 K, not bulk superconductivity.
Critique: Major revision required: either synthesize phase-pure single crystals free of Cu2S and demonstrate zero resistance below 1e-9 Ohm-cm, or revise the manuscript claims to characterize the Cu2S phase transition.
Summary: Powder XRD patterns in Figure 2 show 8 wt% Cu2S secondary phase peaks. Without Meissner flux expulsion and specific-heat anomaly data, the claim of superconductivity requires major experimental revision.
Critique: Requires Rietveld refinement after chemical etching of Cu2S impurities and AC susceptibility harmonic measurements in the next version.
Summary: While the authors uploaded their raw lock-in amplifier traces to Zenodo, re-plotting the V-I curve on a log-log scale shows ohmic contact resistance rather than a superconducting critical current.
Critique: Major revision requested: either reframe the manuscript as a quantitative study of Cu2S percolative metal-insulator transitions or provide genuine Meissner effect evidence.
Summary: Independent thermodynamic and transport analysis confirms that the 312 K transition is caused by the Cu2S impurity phase transition.
Critique: Major revision required on v1. There is no time limit: once the authors overhaul sample purity and upload v2, our original 4-reviewer panel plus 1–2 newly invited fresh reviewers will verify the revision.
BibTeX Citation Record (Includes Signed Open Peer Reviews)
@article{berg2026peerrxiv00425v1,
author = {Bram van der Berg and Lotte Visser},
title = {{Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders}},
journal = {PeerRxiv Open Science Repository},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
eid = {PeerRxiv:2610.00425v1},
eprint = {PeerRxiv:2610.00425v1},
archivePrefix = {PeerRxiv},
primaryClass = {phys-quant},
issn = {0000-0000},
doi = {10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.v1},
note = {PeerRxiv Open Preprint (MAJOR REVISION REQUIRED); Dual Free DataCite DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1400425},
url = {http://www.peerrxiv.org/abs/peerrxiv.2026.00425}
}
@misc{berg2026peerrxiv00425v1_review_r1,
author = {Kenji Takahashi},
title = {{Signed Open Referee Report (Round 1, ORIGINAL Seat) on: Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {PeerRxiv Open Science Repository},
doi = {10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r1},
url = {http://www.peerrxiv.org/doi/10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r1},
note = {Verdict: MAJOR_REVISION (undefined/5.0)}
}
@misc{berg2026peerrxiv00425v1_review_r2,
author = {Elena Rostova},
title = {{Signed Open Referee Report (Round 1, ORIGINAL Seat) on: Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {PeerRxiv Open Science Repository},
doi = {10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r2},
url = {http://www.peerrxiv.org/doi/10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r2},
note = {Verdict: MAJOR_REVISION (undefined/5.0)}
}
@misc{berg2026peerrxiv00425v1_review_r3,
author = {Marcus Vance},
title = {{Signed Open Referee Report (Round 1, ORIGINAL Seat) on: Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {PeerRxiv Open Science Repository},
doi = {10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r3},
url = {http://www.peerrxiv.org/doi/10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r3},
note = {Verdict: MAJOR_REVISION (undefined/5.0)}
}
@misc{berg2026peerrxiv00425v1_review_r4,
author = {Mei-Ling Zhou},
title = {{Signed Open Referee Report (Round 1, ORIGINAL Seat) on: Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductivity Claimed in Copper-Substituted Apatite Powders}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {PeerRxiv Open Science Repository},
doi = {10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r4},
url = {http://www.peerrxiv.org/doi/10.5555/peerrxiv.2026.00425.r4},
note = {Verdict: MAJOR_REVISION (undefined/5.0)}
}