Superconductivity
Its superconductivity was first published in the journal Physical Review Letters in February 2001. Its critical temperature (Tc) of 39 K (−234 °C; −389 °F) is the highest amongst conventional superconductors. This material was first synthesized and its structure confirmed in 1953, but its superconducting properties were not discovered until 2001.
Though generally believed to be a conventional (phonon-mediated) superconductor, it is a rather unusual one. Its electronic structure is such that there exist two types of electrons at the Fermi level with widely differing behaviours, one of them (sigma-bonding) being much more strongly superconducting than the other (pi-bonding). This is at odds with usual theories of phonon-mediated superconductivity which assume that all electrons behave in the same manner. Theoretical understanding of the properties of MgB2 has almost been achieved with two energy gaps. In 2001 it was regarded as behaving more like a metallic than a cuprate superconductor.
Read more about this topic: Magnesium Diboride