Pressure quenching is an experimental strategy for preserving a material state formed or enhanced under pressure. Researchers first subject a sample to conditions that favor a particular structure or electronic behavior, then release the pressure quickly enough that the material may remain trapped in a metastable form rather than returning immediately to its original state.
The exact sequence varies by material and protocol. Temperature control can be part of the preparation or release process, but the defining aim is to retain a pressure-induced state when the sample is brought back toward ambient pressure. This is difficult because atoms may rearrange as the pressure drops, removing the desired property.
In a peer-reviewed 2026 study, researchers used a pressure-quench protocol on a mercury-based cuprate and reported a superconducting transition temperature of 151 kelvin at ambient pressure. The work used measurements of superconducting behavior together with structural analysis. That is a notable high-temperature result, but 151 K is roughly minus 122 degrees Celsius, not room temperature.
To evaluate a pressure-quenching claim, check the pressure and temperature history, whether measurements happened after complete decompression, how long the retained state lasted and whether multiple samples behaved consistently. A preserved laboratory state is a research milestone, not immediate proof that the material can be mass-produced or used in power systems.