The article, published on Tuesday 14 October 2025, starts by explaining what is fusion energy. As the authors say in the article, "The fusion reaction is achieved when two isotopes of hydrogen (deuterium and tritium), in the form of plasma, are converted into helium and release highly energetic neutrons, which we use to heat water that drives a turbine and generates electricity. The energy produced originates from the loss of mass in the fusion reaction, which is calculated using Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc²".
In the 1950s an idea was developed to control the fusion reaction: magnetic confinement. And the key to this confinement is superconductivity. The article goes on explaining how superconductivity may make fusion reactors possible and, therefore, guarantee an energetic transition with the use of fusion energy.
To finish the article, the authors state: "It is essential to succeed in turning fusion energy into a socially and economically acceptable alternative that allows for reconciling the demand for electricity with the need to minimize the impact of its generation on the environment."
Read the article here: Superconductividad al rescate de la energía de fusión: De los imanes al futuro energético
This article is in the section "La ciencia responde", a collaboration between CSIC and the Muy Intersante journal.
About Teresa Puig and Xavier Obradors
Teresa Puig Molina and Xavier Obradors Berenguer are Senior Research Professors at the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC).
Teresa Puig heads the Department of Superconducting Materials and Large-Scale Nanostructures (SUMAN). She has more than 30 years of research experience, and in 2010 became Research Professor at ICMAB-CSIC. She was awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for her project “ULTRASUPERTAPE” which explores ultrafast growth of high-performance high-temperature superconducting tapes via low-cost, high-throughput processes, and two ERC Proof of Concept grants to bring this technology closer to the market. She has over 700 articles with more than 12,000 citations.
Xavier Obradors is a Research Professor and former Director (2008-2023) of ICMAB-CSIC, where he also leads work in the SUMAN group. Born in Manresa, he earned his physics degree at the Universitat de Barcelona and his doctoral degrees in Physics (UB, 1982) and in Materials Science (Université Grenoble, 1983). His research focuses on the preparation of nanostructured materials and the underlying physical mechanisms of superconducting and magnetic materials, and he has published over 1,000 articles with more than 20,000 citations.
