Abstract
The titanium dioxide (TiO2) with cubic shaped nanoparticles (CNPs) have been used to prepare TiO2/(Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+θ (Bi-2223) composites. We fully characterized the structural and morphological properties of the synthesized composites using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The existence of the secondary superconducting phases increased by an increase in the TiO2 content according to the XRD results. In addition, the morphological studies exhibited that the best alignment and inter-connectivity of grains were explored in the composite with 0.2 wt% of TiO2-CNPs. It can be suggested that the existence of TiO2-CNPs between grains improve the connectivity and alignments in the synthesized compounds. Further, the superconducting transition temperature and critical current densities, along with the pinning force density were determined based on the electrical and magnetic measurements. The results demonstrated that by adding 0.2 wt% of TiO2-CNPs, superconducting features improved in the Bi-2223 superconductor. Consequently, the presence of the optimal amount of TiO2-CNPs as artificial pinning centers had improved the superconducting properties of the Bi-2223 superconductor. This work opens interesting avenues for the application of Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide (BSCCO) superconductors in many fields such as tapes, wires, energy storages, and high-current applications.
NSTL
Elsevier