In this article, we report a facile, one-pot route to phase-pure Fe3C nanoparticles (mean diameter = 20 nm) that show a remarkably high saturation magnetization (∼130 emu/g), higher than iron oxide (Fe3O4) and comparable to that of bulk Fe3C (∼140 emu/g). A readily available biopolymer (gelatin) is used as a matrix to disperse an aqueous iron acetate precursor. On heating, the biopolymer induces nucleation of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles before decomposing to form a carbon-rich matrix. This then acts as a reactive template for carbothermal reduction of the magnetite nanoparticles to Fe3C at a moderate temperature of 650 °C. This method represents a considerable advance over previous reports that often use high-energy procedures or costly and hazardous precursors. These homogeneous, highly magnetic nanoparticles have many potential applications in biomedicine and catalysis.

No abstract

Addition of pyrochlore rare earth tantalate phases, RE 3 TaO 7 (RTO, where RE = rare earth, Er, Gd and Yb) to YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ (YBCO) is shown to vastly improve pinning, without being detrimental to the superconducting transition temperature. The closely lattice matched to RTO phase provides a lower interfacial energy with YBCO than BaZrO 3 (BZO) and produces very fine (∼5 nm) particles with high linearity in their self-assembly along c. Critical current densities of 0.86, 0.38 MA cm −2 at 1 and 3 T (for fields) parallel to the c axis were recorded at 77 K in 0.5-1.0 μm thick films and a transition temperature of 92 K was observed even in the highest level doped sample (8 mol%).Improvement of flux pinning and thus the critical current, J c , that can be carried in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7−δ (YBCO) is crucial for achieving widespread applications of this technologically important material. Practical pinning enhancement methods developed within the last five years, such as incorporating nanoinclusions in the film [1][2][3][4] or on the substrate surface [5,6], disorder effects from rare earth (RE) modifications [7] and microstructural modification, have all been successful in specific field and temperature regimes [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Barium perovskites (BaBO 3 ) nanoinclusions with B site ions from group IV and simple binary rare earth oxides have shown the best performance so far [15,16]. However, sometimes the superconducting transition temperature T c is reduced by the additions due to disordering or poisoning, thus limiting the usable 4 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.

An “easy‐to‐handle” Fe3C powder constituted of nanoparticles is prepared in a simple, fast and relatively cheap way. The nanoparticles are crystalline, small (d ≈ 8 nm), and superparamagnetic. Despite the absence of any significant coating shell, these nanoparticles are stable against oxidation and can represent a perfect base for the generation of novel ferrofluids.

No abstract

A cryogenic electrical transport measurement system is described that is particularly designed to meet the requirements for routine and effective characterization of commercial second generation high-temperature superconducting (HTS) wires in the form of coated conductors based on YBa2Cu3O7. Specific design parameters include a base temperature of 20 K, an applied magnetic field capability of 8 T (provided by a HTS split-coil magnet), and a measurement current capacity approaching 1 kA. The system accommodates samples up to 12 mm in width (the widest conductor size presently commercially available) and 40 mm long, although this is not a limiting size. The sample is able to be rotated freely with respect to the magnetic field direction about an axis parallel to the current flow, producing field angle variations in the standard maximum Lorentz force configuration. The system is completely free of liquid cryogens for both sample cooling and magnet cool-down and operation. Software enables the system to conduct a full characterization of the temperature, magnetic field, and field angle dependence of the critical current of a sample without any user interaction. The system has successfully been used to measure a wide range of experimental and commercially-available superconducting wire samples sourced from different manufacturers across the full range of operating conditions. The system encapsulates significant advances in HTS magnet design and efficient cryogen-free cooling technologies together with the capability for routine and automated high-current electrical transport measurements at cryogenic temperatures. It will be of interest to both research scientists investigating superconductor behavior and commercial wire manufacturers seeking to accurately characterize the performance of their product under all desired operating conditions.

Magneto-optical imaging and magnetization measurements performed on thin films of the borocarbide superconductor YNi2B2C reveal the occurrence of magnetic flux instabilities upon reducing the applied magnetic field towards the remanent state. In contrast to other low-Tc materials such as Nb and MgB2, where similar instabilities occur in both increasing and decreasing magnetic fields, dendritic flux patterns are observed in YNi2B2C for decreasing fields only. Also in the magnetization measurements, a distinct asymmetry is evident between increasing and decreasing fields. The effect does not depend on the sweep rate of the field, but is strongly dependent on the maximum field applied before reduction. The observation of spontaneous flux instabilities in this additional family of low-temperature superconductors suggests that the responsible mechanism is universal to this class of materials.

The fusion power density produced in a tokamak is proportional to its magnetic field strength to the fourth power. Second-generation high temperature superconductor (2G HTS) wires demonstrate remarkable engineering current density (averaged over the full wire), JE, at very high magnetic fields, driving progress in fusion and other applications. The key challenge for HTS wires has been to offer an acceptable combination of high and consistent superconducting performance in high magnetic fields, high volume supply, and low price. Here we report a very high and reproducible JE in practical HTS wires based on a simple YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) superconductor formulation with Y2O3 nanoparticles, which have been delivered in just nine months to a commercial fusion customer in the largest-volume order the HTS industry has seen to date. We demonstrate a novel YBCO superconductor formulation without the c-axis correlated nano-columnar defects that are widely believed to be prerequisite for high in-field performance. The simplicity of this new formulation allows robust and scalable manufacturing, providing, for the first time, large volumes of consistently high performance wire, and the economies of scale necessary to lower HTS wire prices to a level acceptable for fusion and ultimately for the widespread commercial adoption of HTS.