As I understand it, superconductors work best at temperatures approaching absolute zero (-273.15C). For example, Google tells me that the superconductor in an MRI operates at -269C.
There has been a lot a buzz lately about room temperature (25C) superconductors being discovered, but why is room temperature the focus? Why not focus on superconductors that work in reasonably cold environments? For example, we can easily get temperatures to -15C in a freezer. Why not create superconductors that work in that temperature range rather than 25C?
There is a lot of activities around “high temperature supra conductor” high temperature meaning using liquid nitrogen as a cooling fluid. It would already be less a hassle than liquid helium. Some do exists, and the question that interest every industry using supra-conductor is whether the cost saved by switching to liquid nitrogen is worth developing a whole new product with a relatively recent technology.
Room temperature would be a massive breakthrough as suddenly you don’t really need to deal with a cooling system (or may-be a water cooling/fan like any other electric equipment) not only it would ease the life of people aready using super-conducting materials but it would also allow to use it in more cases (Maglev, electric motor)