Preparation and Characterization of a Large-Scale YBa^sub 2^Cu^sub 3^ O^sub 7-x^ Superconductor Prepared by Plastic Forming without a High-Pressure Molding: Effect of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Addition on the Superconducting Properties

• Published in: Journal of the American Ceramic Society 2009-03, Vol.92 (3), p.578
• Main Authors: Takahashi, Makoto, Miyauchi, Toshiyuki, Sawada, Kengo, Ishikawa, Hiroyuki, Sato, Shoji, Tahashi, Masahiro, Wakita, Koichi, Ohkido, Sadao, Honda, Motohisa, Murai, Asami, Kamiya, Masato, Matubara, Masanori
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ceramics; Materials science; Methods; Polyvinyl alcohol; Slurry reactors; Superconductors
• ISSN: 0002-7820; 1551-2916

The preparation of large-scale ... superconductor samples was investigated. This method is based on plastic forming using a slurry consisting of ... particles and a sol solution made up of multimetallic hydroxide particles (... colloidal particles) and poly(vinyl) alcohol (PVA). The effects of adding PVA on the product, the crystallinity, and the superconducting properties of the sample were investigated. It was found that PVA acted as a protective colloid in the sol solution and stabilized ... colloidal particles, and that the role of PVA changed from a thickener to a flocculant during drying so that the formability/ workability of the green sheet sample was improved and large samples (about 80 mm x 80 mm x 3 mm) without large cracks were obtained after firing. The samples became superconducting at 91.5±0.5 K (T...) and the full transition temperature (T... ) was 88.5±1.5 K. The critical current density (J...) of the sample prepared from the slurry containing 1 wt% PVA was 713±150 A/cm... at 77 K. This J... value was improved to 2300 A/cm... by heat treatment at 773 K under an oxygen atmosphere. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)