Facile synthesis of potassium intercalated p-terphenyl and signatures of a possible high Tc phase

A new facile synthesis methodology for making flakes of p-terphenyl through sublimation under inert atmosphere of argon is presented. Flake morphology of p-terphenyl provides a favourable environment for efficient intercalation of potassium. The ratio of potassium and p-terphenyl is adjusted so as to obtain the reported superconducting phase i.e. potassium doped p-terphenyl (K3C18H14). A magnetic transition is observed around 107 K under Zero Field Cooled (ZFC) and Field Cooled (FC) mode. But overall moment is positive, possibly due to paramagnetic phase dominating characteristics in the presence of very small superconducting volume fraction. The background subtracted M-H loop taken at 20 K shows typical characteristics of a superconductor.