Publications

Superconductor samples of type Bi1.8Pb0.4Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ added with nano ZnO and Fe2O3 were synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction technique. The samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electrical resistivity measurements. Excess conductivity analysis of the investigated samples was carried out as a function of temperature using Aslamazov and Larkin (AL) model. The analysis showed four different fluctuation regions namely critical (cr), three-dimensional (3D), two-dimensional (2D) and short-wave (sw). The zero temperature coherence length along c-axis, effective layer thickness of the two-dimensional system and inter-layer coupling strength were estimated as a function of nano-oxides concentration. In addition, the thermodynamics, lower and upper critical magnetic fields as well as critical current density were calculated from the Ginzburg number NG. It was found that the low concentration of nano-ZnO addition up to x=0.2 wt.% improved the physical properties of (Bi,Pb)-2223 phase. In contrary, these properties were deteriorated for x>0.2. These results indicated that the addition of a low amount of nano-ZnO during the final processing of (Bi,Pb)-2223 samples can be effectively improved the flux pinning ability, while the addition of a high amount of nano-ZnO decreased the volume fraction and increased the resistance of grain boundaries. Moreover, the addition of nano-Fe2O3 had a negative effect on the superconducting parameters of the (Bi,Pb)-2223 phase. This behavior was attributed to the decrease in the volume fraction of (Bi,Pb)-2223 phase with the increasing of nano-Fe2O3.