Iron-based compounds usually become superconductive after being exposed to air. This process can take up to several months. K. Deguchi and colleagues, University of Tsukuba, Japan, have shown that for FeTe_0.8S_0.2 this process can be speeded up by immersing it in hot alcoholic beverages. The team found that heating with red wine for 24 h gave the best results with a shielding volume fraction of 62.4 % and the highest zero resistivity temperature of 7.8 K.

A pure water–ethanol mixture was used as a control, however, no enhancement of the superconducting properties were seen, leading to the suggestion that components present in alcoholic beverages, other than water and ethanol, are responsible for the superconductivity.

• Alcoholic beverages induce superconductivity in FeTe_{1 − x}S_x
  K. Deguchi, Y. Mizuguchi, Y. Kawasaki, T. Ozaki, S. Tsuda, T. Yamaguchi, Y. Takano,
  Supercond. Sci. Technol. 2011, 24, 055008.
  DOI: 10.1088/0953-2048/24/5/055008

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