Carbon nanofibers addition on transport and superconducting properties of bulk YBa2Cu3O7−δ material prepared via co-precipitation

Abstract

The effects of carbon nanofibers addition on transport and superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7−δ (Y-123) superconductor were studied. Y-123 was prepared using co-precipitation method for good quality bulk of high temperature superconducting material. Carbon nanofibers with 0.2–0.8 wt% were added into Y-123 superconductors. The samples were characterized using electrical resistance measurement for critical temperature (Tc) and critical current density (Jc), powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Most of the samples indicated a dominant Y-123 phase of an orthorhombic structure with a minor phase of BaCO3 and Y-124. Onset critical temperature was found to decrease from 90.5 to 80 K with increasing of carbon nanofibers concentration. The Jc for pure sample is 11 A/cm2 at 30 K while the Jc of sample with 0.4 wt% carbon nanofibers is 830 A/cm2 at 30 K. Introduction of carbon nanofibers enhanced Jc significantly. However, further addition of carbon nanofibers in Y-123 superconductor caused degradation in Jc.

Effect of Graphene Nanoparticles Addition on Superconductivity of YBa2Cu3O7~δ Synthesized via the Thermal Treatment Method

“…The graphene nanoparticles can be a powerful material to act as an as effective pinning center. These findings were supported from the previous studies that had also reported that graphene/carbon base nanomaterials addition could be beneficial, especially in the Y123 superconductor performance [24,36,49,50]. However, further improvements of the Y123 superconducting performance are possible in order to obtain more higher of J cm values.…”

“…These impurities and additions of nanomaterials act as the flux pinning centers in HTS could help prevent the motion of magnetic flux in the Y123 compounds, thus leading to high J c under the applied magnetic field. The artificial and strong pinning centers are required in order to achieve high J c [14,[22][23][24]. In recent years, some studies found that the addition of carbon-based compounds improved intergrain connectivity.…”