Superconductivity of BSCCO Compound Substituted Partially by Zr Nanoparticles at Bi Site

Abstract

High-temperature superconductors with a nominal composition Bi2- xZrxPb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy for (0≤x≤0.3) were prepared by solid-state reaction method. Effects of the Zr nanoparticles substitution at Bi sites have been studied to obtain the optimum concentration for the formation and stabilization of the superconducting samples. Electrical resistivity measurements of the samples showed that the higher critical temperature TC was found at 118 K, which is for the composition Bi1.95Zr0.05Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy. Semiconductor behavior noticed for samples with concentration higher than 0.2. The X-ray diffraction results for all superconducting samples showed an orthorhombic structure with two phases, 2223 high-TC phase and 2212 low-TC phase. The scanning electron microscope has been used to identify the morphology of the superconducting phase. The plate-like grains of the high Bi-2223 phase appeared in most samples besides changes in morphology of the samples with increasing dopant concentration