Mechanical tensile promotion and superconducting properties of highly Pb-content HTc-BPSCCO superconductor

The samples of the general formula (Bi0.8Pb0.2 + x)(2)Sr2Ca2CU3O10, where 0.0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.3 mol% were prepared by the conventional high temperature solid state reaction technique. The extra lead (x) was added as very fine powder of pure Pb-metal with particle size less than or equal to 50 mum. The superconducting measurements for HTc-2223-phase proved that, best T-c = 109 K is for the sample with x = 0.2 (Pb-content = 0.4 mol%) while the lowest T-c = 98 K is for the sample with x = 0.3 mol%. The evaluated crystalline lattice structure of the prepared samples mainly belongs to the superconductive tetragonal phase (2223), besides secondary (2201) and (2212) phases in minor. The c-axis lattice parameter exhibits length elongation as x (Pb-content) increases from x = 0.1 to 0.3. The maximum mechanical tensile strength values at 295 K were promoted and found to be 37.5, 38.6 and 41.4 MPa as Pb-content increases from x = 0.1 to 0.3, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.