Microstructure and Superconducting Properties of Bi-2223 Synthesized via Co-Precipitation Method: Effects of Graphene Nanoparticle Addition

The effects of graphene addition on the phase formation and superconducting properties of (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi-2223) ceramics synthesized using the co-precipitation method were systematically investigated. Series samples of Bi-2223 were added with different weight percentages (x = 0.0, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%) of graphene nanoparticles. The samples' phase formations and crystal structures were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), while the superconducting critical temperatures, T-c, were investigated using alternating current susceptibility (ACS). The XRD showed that a high-T-c phase, Bi-2223, and a small low-T-c phase, Bi-2212, dominated the samples. The volume fraction of the Bi-2223 phase increased for the sample with x = 0.3 wt.% and 0.5 wt.% of graphene and slightly reduced at x = 1.0 wt.%. The ACS showed that the onset critical temperature, Tc-onset, phase lock-in temperature, T-cj,T- and coupling peak temperature, T-P, decreased when graphene was added to the samples. The susceptibility-temperature (& chi;& PRIME;-T) and (& chi;& DPRIME;-T) curves of each sample, where & chi;& PRIME; and & chi;& DPRIME; are the real and imaginary parts of the susceptibility, respectively, were obtained. The critical temperature of the pure sample was also measured.