Environmental Degradation Effect on the Properties of Bi-2212 Highly Textured Rods

It is well know that H2O and CO2 (both present in the atmosphere) can react chemically with BSCCO superconductors, especially with the alkaline-earth cations, producing chemical degradation and reducing their performances. In this work, Bi-2212 highly textured rods were grown from the melt through a laser floating zone melting technique. In order to determine the influence of H2O and CO2 on these bulk textured samples, they were immersed in distilled water and in CO2 saturated water. The evolution of the electrical and mechanical properties of these rods was determined as a function of the immersion time in both media and compared with their initial properties. It has been found that performance degradation was higher in distilled water than in CO2 saturated one. Nevertheless, in any case, the degradation has been found to be not very important.