Effect of Nanosized PbO on the Electrical Transport Properties of (Bi1.6Pb0.4)Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 Superconductor

The effect of nanosized PbO additions on the superconducting properties of (Bi, Pb)-2223(PbO) x (x = 0 - 0.15 wt. %) prepared by the co-precipitation method was studied. The structure and the microstructure of samples were examined by powder XRD and SEM, respectively. The transport critical current density (J(c)), onset transition temperature (T-c (onset)) and zero resistance temperature (T-c (zero)) were determined by using four-probe method. It was observed that PbO additions enhanced Jc for all added samples. The x = 0.05 wt. % sample showed the highest J(c) (19.3 and 11.3 A/cm(2) at 30 and 77 K, respectively) This study showed that the addition of PbO, as a result of existence of the effective artificial pinning, provided extra flux pinning centers in the (Bi, Pb)-2223 superconductor.