Critical Current Density, Jc Improvement of BSCCO Superconductor Tapes with Nano Co3O4 Addition

Abstract

The (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy(Co3O4)x superconductor with addition of 0.00 - 0.05 weight per cent of Co3O4 nanoparticle with average size around 10 ± 4 nm was prepared using the co-precipitation method. Ag-sheathed Bi-2223 tapes with the highest critical current density, J c of bulk (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3Oy(Co3O4)x were fabricated using the powder-in-tube (PIT) method. The tapes were heat-treated at 845°C for 50 h. The structure, microstructure and transport critical current density (J c) of the tapes were conducted using X-Ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and four point-probe respectively. The enhancement of critical current density, J c through the addition of Co3O4 (10 nm) nanoparticles is reported. Our results show that all nanoparticles added samples for bulk and tape showed higher J c compared to the non-added samples. The increase in J c can be explained as the increase of the flux pinning strength by nanoparticles of Co3O4 that can act as effective pinning centres or a boost leading to enhancement of Jc in the Bi-2223 system.