Solution-processed nanometers thick amorphous carbon-coated boron as an efficient precursor for high-field performance of MgB2

Ranot, Mahipal and Jang, Se Hoon and Shinde, Kiran Prakash and Sinha, Bhavesh Bharat and Bhardwaj, Asha and Oh, Young-Seok and Kang, Seong-Hoon and Chung, Kookchae (2017) Solution-processed nanometers thick amorphous carbon-coated boron as an efficient precursor for high-field performance of MgB2. In: JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS, 724 . pp. 507-514.

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Abstract

We report the fabrication of high-performance MgB2 bulk superconductors doped with amorphous carbon (aC), derived from PMMA polymer, a safe and cost effective carbon source as compared to explosive gaseous and expensive C-containing nanoadditives. The commonly used C-containing nanoadditives and boron (B) precursor nanopowders are usually prone to agglomeration in solid state mixing which causes poor reactivity and non-uniform distribution that leads to deterioration of critical current properties of MgB2. We have overcome this problem by achieving uniform 3-4 nm thin coating of aC on B nanopowders by pyrolysis of PMMA through solution process. Compared to undoped MgB2, significantly high current-carrying capability (J(c) (5 K, 8 T) similar to 3.1 x 10(4) A/cm(2) and J(c) (20 K, 6 T) > 10(3) A/cm(2)) was obtained for aC-doped MgB2, which is comparable to the record high in-field Jc reported for SiC-doped MgB2 and much better than those reported in literature with other C sources. Furthermore, significant improvement in H-irr and H-c2 were also observed for aC-doped MgB2. The improved high-field properties in PMMA-derived aC-doped MgB2 bulk suggest that the solution process could be a powerful technique to obtain uniform mixture of C-coated B to develop high-performance Mg(B1-xCx)(2) wires for practical applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA, PO BOX 564, 1001 LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Instrumentation Appiled Physics
Date Deposited:	08 Sep 2017 08:59
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2017 08:59
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/57737

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