EP2062302A1 - Superconducting materials and methods of synthesis - Google Patents
Superconducting materials and methods of synthesisInfo
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- EP2062302A1 EP2062302A1 EP07719117A EP07719117A EP2062302A1 EP 2062302 A1 EP2062302 A1 EP 2062302A1 EP 07719117 A EP07719117 A EP 07719117A EP 07719117 A EP07719117 A EP 07719117A EP 2062302 A1 EP2062302 A1 EP 2062302A1
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- acid
- carbon
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Definitions
- the present invention relates to superconducting materials and methods of synthesis thereof.
- the present invention relates to doped superconducting materials comprising magnesium diboride (MgB 2 ) and methods of synthesis thereof.
- LTS low temperature superconductor
- HTS high temperature superconductor
- MgB 2 has recently emerged as an alternative LTS material because of its low cost and ease of synthesis.
- heat treatment of MgB 2 wire requires 10 to 30 minutes at 700 0 C whereas HTS wire requires 60 hours of heat treatment.
- MgB 2 has been used in wires, tapes and powder-in-tube (PIT) processed strands and is a promising prospect in current carrying applications.
- PIT-based approaches a tube or sheath is loaded with either pre-reacted MgB 2 powder (the "ex-situ method") or a mixture of elemental Mg and B powder (the "in-situ method”), which readily lends itself to the inclusion of property improving dopants.
- MgB 2 has a critical temperature of 39K, which is almost twice that of the highest critical temperature of known LTS materials and more than four times that of the LTS workhorse, NbTi. MgB 2 has a simple crystal structure, a large coherence length and the grain boundaries are transparent to current flow.
- PCT/AU03/00758 has been found the most useful particle to increase the J c and many groups have tried to dope the MgB 2 with carbon.
- the nanometre-sized materials are very expensive and therefore producing superconductors in large quantities from such materials is uneconomical. It would therefore be desirable to find a cheap material to replace the nanometre-sized particles to produce a superconductor having improved superconducting properties.
- the invention resides in a method of synthesizing a MgB 2 superconducting material including: a) mixing at least two starting materials capable of forming MgB 2 with at least one organic dopant compound, said at least one organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; b) shaping the mixed materials into a desired shape; and c) heating the mixed materials to produce a carbon-doped MgB 2 superconducting material.
- the starting materials comprise Mg and B and preferably the starting materials are Mg powder of high purity and B powder of high purity.
- the starting materials include one or more powders of the following: Mg, B, MgB 2 , MgH 2 , MgB 4
- the at least one organic dopant compound includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: a carbohydrate or derivative thereof, an organic acid, an ester, sugar (C 6 Hi 2 O 6 ), malic acid (C 4 H 6 O 5 ), tartaric acid (C 4 H 6 O 6 ), citric acid (C 6 H 8 O 7 ), dimethyl terephthalate (Ci 0 HioO 4 ), Nipasol (Ci 0 Hi 2 O 3 ), pivalic acid (C 5 HioO 2 ), crotonic acid (C 4 H 6 O 2 ), lactic acid (C 3 H 6 O 3 ), isophthalic acid (C 8 H 6 O 4 ), adipic acid (C 6 H 10 O 4 ), succinic acid (C 4 H 6 O 4 ), Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (C 10 Hi 6 N 2 O 8 ), 2-(3-benzoylphenyl)-propionic acid (Ci 6 Hi
- step b) includes compressing the mixed materials into pellets, suitably under a pressure of about 8MPa.
- step c) includes sintering the mixed materials at about 600°C-1000°C and preferably at about 650°C-900°C.
- step c) may be performed for about 10-240 minutes and preferably for about 30-120 minutes.
- step c) may be performed under a high purity argon gas flow or under a gas flow of argon and hydrogen or in a sealed quartz tube.
- step a) further includes: i) dissolving the organic dopant compound with a solvent to form a solution; ii) mixing at least one of the starting materials capable of forming a superconducting material with the at least one organic dopant compound in solution form to form a slurry; iii) drying the slurry in a vacuum chamber; and iv) mixing the dried slurry with at least one other of the starting materials capable of forming a superconducting material.
- the method can include dry mixing of the starting materials capable of forming a superconducting material and the organic dopant compound without using a solvent.
- the solvent is a liquid and preferably an organic liquid.
- the solvent may be distilled water, but is preferably a non-aqueous solvent, such as benzene, toluene or hexane.
- the method may further include the step of: d) furnace cooling the carbon-doped superconducting material to room temperature.
- the invention resides in a MgB 2 superconducting material comprising at least two starting materials capable of forming MgB 2 and at least one organic dopant compound, said at least one organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, wherein the starting materials and the at least one organic dopant compound are mixed at a molecular level and heated to produce a carbon-doped MgB 2 superconducting material.
- the at least one organic dopant compound includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: a carbohydrate or derivative thereof, an organic acid, an ester, sugar (CeHi 2 O 6 ), malic acid (C 4 HeO 5 ), tartaric acid (C 4 H 6 O 6 ), citric acid (C 6 H 8 O 7 ), dimethyl terephthalate (Ci 0 HioO 4 ), nipasol (Ci 0 Hi 2 O 3 ), pivalic acid (C 5 HI 0 O 2 ), crotonic acid (C 4 H 6 O 2 ), lactic acid (C 3 H 6 O 3 ), isophthalic acid (C 8 H 6 O 4 ), adipic acid (C 6 HI 0 O 4 ), succinic acid (C 4 H 6 O 4 ), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (C 10 Hi 6 N 2 O 8 ), 2-(3-benzoylphenyl)-propionic acid (C
- FIG 1 is a flowchart showing a method of synthesizing a superconducting material in accordance with embodiments of the present invention
- FIG 2 is a flowchart showing further steps of the method shown in FIG 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present invention
- FIG 3 shows X-ray diffraction patterns of pure MgB 2 and embodiments of the superconducting material comprising different levels of organic dopant compound
- FIG 4 is a graph of Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) values of the superconducting material as a function of a level of organic compound doping in accordance with embodiments of the present invention
- FIG 5 is a graph of crystal parameters of embodiments of the superconducting material as a function of the level of organic compound doping
- FIG 6 is a graph of magnetic ac susceptibility of the superconducting material as a function of temperature for different levels of organic compound doping
- FIG 7 is a graph of critical current density of embodiments of the superconducting material at temperatures of 5K and 2OK as a function of the level of organic compound doping;
- FIG 8 shows a transmission electron microscope image and a selected area diffraction pattern of the superconducting material doped with 10% organic dopant compound in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
- FIG 9 shows a transmission electron microscope image and a selected area diffraction pattern of an undoped sample of a prior art superconducting material
- FIG 10 is a graph of magnetization of embodiments of the superconducting material as a function of temperature for different levels of organic compound doping
- FIG 11 is a graph of critical current density of embodiments of the superconducting material as a function of magnetic field for different levels of organic compound doping
- FIG 12 is a graph of upper critical field as a function of temperature ratio T/T c of an embodiment of the superconducting material compared with prior art doped superconducting materials
- FIG 13 is a graph of critical current density of the superconducting material according to an embodiment of the present invention as a function of magnetic field at temperatures of 5K and 2OK compared with a prior art doped superconducting material
- FIG 14 is a graph of critical current density as a function of magnetic field for the superconducting material according to embodiments of the present invention.
- the invention resides in a method 100 of synthesizing a magnesium diboride (MgB 2 ) superconducting material.
- the method 100 includes, at 110, mixing at least two starting materials capable of forming MgB 2 with at least one organic dopant compound.
- the organic dopant compound comprises carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
- the starting materials can comprise Mg and B and can include one or more of the following: Mg, MgH 2 , B, MgB 2 , MgB 4 .
- the starting materials are in the form of high purity magnesium powder and amorphous boron powder of high purity.
- the purity level of the Mg and B starting powders is at least 99%.
- the starting materials can be in an alternative solid form or in liquid form.
- the organic dopant compound can include, but is not limited to, for example, one or more of the following: a carbohydrate or derivative thereof, an organic acid, an ester, sugar (C ⁇ HiaO ⁇ ), malic acid (C 4 HeO 5 ), tartaric acid (C 4 H 6 O 6 ), citric acid (C 6 H 8 Oy), dimethyl terephthalate (C10H 1 0O4), nipasol (C10H12O3), pivalic acid (C 5 HI 0 O 2 ), crotonic acid (C 4 H 6 O 2 ), lactic acid (0 3 H 6 O 3 ), isophthalic acid (CaH 6 O 4 ), adipic acid (C 6 Hio0 4 ), succinic acid (0 4 H 6 O 4 ), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (Ci O Hi 6 N 2 O 8 ), 2-(3-benzoylphenyl)-propionic acid (Ci 6 Hi 4 ⁇ 3 ), methyl
- the method 100 includes, at 120, shaping the mixed materials into a desired shape. In a preferred embodiment, this includes compressing the mixed starting materials in a pressure die having an inner diameter of 13mm and applying a pressure of 8MPa to press the mixed starting materials into precursor pellets. The precursor pellets are then sealed in iron tubes. According to one embodiment, the iron tube has an outer diameter of 10 mm, a wall thickness of 1 mm, and is 10 cm long with one end of the tube sealed.
- shaping can include, for example, one or more of mechanical pressing, rolling, extrusion, casting and/or swaging to produce the desired shape of, but not limited to, wires, tapes, coils or bulk material.
- the method 100 of the present invention includes, at 130, heating the mixed materials to produce a carbon-doped MgB 2 superconducting material.
- the method includes sintering the mixed powders at about 78O 0 C for about 1 hour under flowing argon gas.
- the argon gas is of high purity and the flow is maintained throughout the sintering process.
- a mixture of argon and hydrogen is employed.
- sintering of the mixed materials is performed in a sealed quartz tube.
- the method 100 further includes at 140, furnace cooling the carbon-doped superconducting material to room temperature.
- the precursor pellets were cut into bar-shaped samples of 1 *2*3 mm 3 and at 160, polished for magnetic measurements.
- a preferred embodiment of the method 100 includes mixing the starting materials in the form of powders using a solution method.
- mixing the starting materials at 110 further includes at 200 dissolving at least one organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in a solvent to form a solution.
- Mixing also includes at 210 mixing at least one of the starting powders capable of forming a MgB 2 superconducting material with the organic dopant compound in solution to form a slurry.
- the method further includes at 220, drying the slurry in a vacuum chamber and at 230, mixing the dried slurry with at least one other of the starting powders capable of forming a MgB 2 superconducting material.
- the solvent is distilled water.
- the solvent is another organic liquid, such as benzene, toluene or hexane or other non-aqueous organic solvent.
- the method includes dry mixing of the starting materials capable of forming a superconducting material and the at least one organic dopant compound without using a solvent.
- the powder of boron and CeH- I2 Oe were first mixed with the mortar and pestle by hand and the distilled water was used to help the mixing during the grinding process.
- Boron powder without sugar was also mixed with water and dried in the vacuum chamber in order to compare it with the doped samples. After the mixed powders were dried, they were mixed with Mg powder and ground with mortar and pestle by hand for 30 minutes.
- the aforementioned method according to preferred embodiments of the present invention results in a polycrystalline superconducting material comprising MgB 2 doped with different levels of organic dopant compound wherein the MgB 2 and the organic dopant compound are mixed at a molecular level through an in-situ reaction process.
- the magnetization of the samples was measured over a temperature range of 5 to 30 K using a Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS, Quantum Design) in a time varying magnetic field with a sweep rate of 500Oe/s and amplitude 8.5 Tesla.
- the magnetic measurement was performed by applying the magnetic field parallel to the longest axis of the samples.
- J c versus magnetic field was measured up to 8.5T.
- the low field J c at 5K could not be measured due to flux jumping.
- the critical temperature T 0 was determined by measuring the real part of the ac susceptibility at a frequency of 117 Hz and an external magnetic field of 0.1 Oe. T 0 was defined as the onset of the diamagnetism.
- the samples consist mainly of MgB 2 , together with MgO as the main impurity phase.
- the C 6 Hi 2 Oe doped samples where the doping level is over 5% show an impurity peak which belongs to Mg 2 C 3 .
- the dashed lines show the positions of the (100) peaks and (002) peaks respectively of the samples.
- the (001) peak position shifts after doping with the C 6 Hi 2 Oe, and the peak position shifts to the larger 2 ⁇ angle as the doping level increases. This shift means that the a-axis is decreasing after the sugar doping.
- the decrease of the a-axis is an indication of carbon substitution for boron, which is consistent with the result of other researchers, such as S. X. Dou, W. K. Yeoh, J. Horvat, and M. lonescu, Appl. Phys. Lett 83, 4996 (2003).
- the position of the (002) peaks has no obvious shift with the increase of sugar doping. The inventors conclude that the c-axis varies very little with the level of doping.
- FIG 4 shows the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) for the (101) peaks.
- the FWHM increases as the doping level increases.
- a first process involves the sugar coating the outside of the boron powder, which prevents the magnesium from contacting the boron. This retards the reaction process and reduces the time available for growth of the MgB 2 crystal.
- the impurities from the sugar doping are distributed in the grain boundary, which pins the grain boundary.
- FIG 5 shows the crystal lattice parameters of the samples with different concentrations of sugar doping and the results confirm the phenomena of crystal parameter change. The results show that the a axis decreases with an increasing level of doping.
- FIG 6 shows the transition temperature (T 0 ) for embodiments of the doped superconductor of the present invention and undoped superconductor samples determined by ac susceptibility measurements.
- FIG 5 illustrates that the T 0 drops as the level of organic dopant compound, in this embodiment sugar, increases.
- the T 0 onset for the undoped samples is around 38K whereas the 15% doped sample has a T 0 value of 32.5K.
- the T 0 depression is a result of the carbon doping, which is inconsistent with other literature, as disclosed by S. X. Dou, S. Soltanian, J. Horvat, X. L Wang, P. Munroe, S. H. Zhou, M. Ionescu, H. K.
- the J C (H) curve at 5K and 2OK show that the sugar doped samples exhibit an improvement in J 0 compared with that of the pure MgB 2 .
- the J c increases with the doping level until the doping level reaches 10%. Over 10% sugar doping produces a negative effect on the J 0 value.
- the 15% doped samples shows a large drop in J 0 compared with the 10% doped sample, but the J 0 value still crosses over that of the pure MgB 2 sample above 5T.
- the slope of J 0 (B) dependences becomes less steep with an increasing level of sugar doping indicating a strong pinning effect caused by the sugar doping.
- the highest J c value achieved by the 10% doped sample is 3.6x10 4 A/cm 2 while the pure MgB 2 sample only reached 2x10 3 A/cm 2 .
- the highest J 0 value reached is 1.5 * 10 4 A/cm 2 , which is close to that of the prior art SiC nanometre particle doped sample.
- the pure MgB 2 sample shows relatively low J c values due to un-optimised fabrication parameters, the enhancement of J 0 for the doped samples is still impressive.
- the trend for J 0 improvement is similar to those observed at 5K with some differences at low magnetic field values.
- the 2% doped sample has the highest J 0 and the J 0 values of the 5%, 10% and 15% doped samples decrease with increasing doping level.
- the inventors speculate that two factors possibly contribute to this decrease: one factor is likely to be the T 0 drop caused by the carbon substitution for boron and the other factor is likely to be the introduction of impurity phases, such as Mg 2 C 3 , thus reducing the superconducting MgB 2 volume. Hence, a compromise needs to be sought to keep the T c and J 0 values at reasonable levels.
- the 10% doped sample surpasses the 2% doped sample and has the highest J 0 .
- EDX Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis
- the at least one organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen is in the form of malic acid (C 4 H 6 Os), which is used to produce carbon-doped MgB 2 wires using a powder-in-tube (PIT) method through a in-situ reaction process.
- the method of synthesis is as depicted in FIGS 1 and 2 and details thereof for this embodiment follow.
- Malic acid of 0wt% to 30wt% of MgB 2 was dissolved in toluene solvent and the solution was mixed with amorphous boron powder having a purity of at least 99%. This mixture was vacuum-dried and the dried mixture mixed with magnesium having a purity of at least 99% and thoroughly ground.
- a 10 cm long iron tube having an outside diameter (OD) of 10 mm, a wall thickness of 1 mm and one end sealed was filled with the mixed powder and the remaining end was blocked using an aluminium bar.
- the composite was drawn to a 1 mm to 1.4 mm diameter wire through a series of more than 30 dies with reduction rate about 10% every drawing.
- a bundle of single core wires were inserted to an iron tube and the composite was drawn to a 1 mm to 1.4 mm diameter wire and several short samples about 2 cm in length were cut from the wire. These pieces were then sintered in a tube furnace at 800 0 C and 83O 0 C for 30minutes with a heating rate of 3 0 C per minute, and finally furnace-cooled to room temperature. A high purity argon gas flow was maintained throughout the sintering process. An un-doped sample was also made under the same conditions for use as a reference sample. The mixture was also pressed into pellets, which were sealed in an iron tube and sintered under the same conditions as for the wires.
- the phase and crystal structures of all the samples were obtained from X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns using a Phillips (PW1730) diffractometer with Cu Ka radiation. Differential thermal analysis (DTA) was performed to study the heating rate effect on J 0 .
- the grain morphology and microstructure were also examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a focused ion beam (FIB) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
- SEM scanning electron microscope
- FIB focused ion beam
- TEM transmission electron microscope
- the magnetization was measured at 5 and 20 K using a Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS, Quantum Design) in a time-varying magnetic field with sweep rate of 50 Oe/s and amplitude 8.5T. Samples of 1mmx2mmx3mm were used for all the magnetic measurements.
- Table 1 shows that doping with malic acid reduces the a-axis lattice parameter, indicating that carbon from the malic acid substitutes for boron in the MgB 2 .
- the actual carbon content in the lattice is higher than those using other types of carbon-containing materials, suggesting that the freshly formed carbon due to decomposition of malic acid is highly reactive.
- the actual net % of carbon from 10wt%, 20wt% and 30wt% of malic acid doping is only 3wt%, 6wt% and 9wt% respectively.
- the level of carbon substitution for boron is much higher than any other dopants.
- T c the critical transition temperature
- T 0 reduction is an indication of carbon substitution for boron which is essential for the improvement of H 02 .
- the reduction for all three levels of dopants is the same and less than for other dopants.
- FIG 11 shows the critical current density (J 0 ) against magnetic field (H) for the malic acid doped samples. It is noted that there is no degradation in J 0 in the low field range in clear contrast to other dopants that cause the reduction of J 0 in low fields. In higher fields, the J c increases by more than an order of magnitude.
- FIG 12 shows the comparison of upper critical field (H c2 ) for malic acid doped MgB 2 according to embodiments of the present invention with SiC doped MgB 2 and MgB 2 doped with single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Malic acid doping results in enhancement in
- FIG 13 shows the critical current density (J 0 ) against magnetic field (H) for the
- malic acid doped sample compared with 10wt% SiC doped MgB 2 at 5 K and 20 K.
- Malic acid doping also results in enhancement in J c compared to the SiC doped samples at both 5 K and 20 K. This is attributable to the high level of carbon substitution for boron in the malic acid doped MgB 2 sample in comparison with that for the other dopants.
- the at least one organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen is in the form of tartaric acid (C 4 H 6 O 6 ), which is used to produce doped MgB 2 wires using the same fabrication process as for the malic acid doped sample described above. 10wt% tartaric acid was used in these samples.
- C 4 H 6 O 6 tartaric acid
- 10wt% tartaric acid was used in these samples.
- some samples were heated at 650 0 C and some were heated at 900 0 C. Undoped samples were heated at the same temperatures for comparison.
- FIG 14 shows the variation of J 0 against H indicating a strong enhancement in J 0 and flux pinning. It is interesting to note that J 0 for the sample sintered at 650°C is better than that for 900 0 C. This indicates that the free carbon from decomposition of the tartaric acid is highly reactive as in the case of SiC.
- the superconducting materials and methods of synthesis address at least some of the aforementioned problems of the prior art superconducting materials and methods of synthesis.
- Significant advantages of the organic dopant compounds comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen described herein include the fact that they can dissolve in a solvent such that the solution can form a slurry with starting materials capable of forming a MgB 2 superconducting material, such as boron in powder form. This method results in mixing at a molecular level, thus avoiding the agglomerate problem of the prior art nanoparticle dopants. After drying out the solvent, the organic dopants are coated onto the boron powder surface to form a highly uniform mixture.
- the resultant mixtures melt at lower temperatures and decompose at temperatures below the formation temperature of MgB 2 , hence producing highly reactive and fresh carbon at the atomic scale as well as a reducing reagent, carbon monoxide, which can convert boron oxide to boron, thus reducing impurities in the boron powder.
- the carbon can substitute for boron at the same temperature (600 0 C) as the formation temperature of MgB 2 .
- the simultaneous dual reactions remotely incorporate the carbon into the lattice, which results in the enhancement of critical current density (J c ), irreversibility field (Hj rr ), and upper critical field (H c2 ).
- Organic doping using the dopant compounds comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen described herein show a little depression in T 0 , but significantly reduce grain size, increase the carbon doping level and hence improve J c , H 1n and H c2 performance across all the measured temperatures and field ranges.
- Organic dopant compounds comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen as specified herein, are both cheap and abundant and provide a cheap carbon source for doping with MgB2 superconducting starting materials such as Mg, B and MgB 2 .
- Such dopants will decrease the fabrication cost of superconducting materials if they replace carbon nanotubes and/or nanometre-sized SiC particles, which are currently used widely as dopants.
- the superconducting materials according to embodiments of the present invention have superconducting properties both comparable with, and superior to, prior art superconducting materials.
- the improved superconducting materials of the present invention are likely to have significant commercial implications for many applications in, for example, the medical, electronics, energy generation and transmission, and transportation sectors as well as other industry sectors.
- the aim has been to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. Persons skilled in the relevant art may realize variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention.
- the ratio of organic dopant compound comprising carbon, hydrogen and oxygen to MgB 2 may be varied from the specific amounts recited herein whilst achieving the advantages of the carbon doped MgB 2 superconducting material of the present invention.
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CN105541338B (en) * | 2016-01-13 | 2017-12-26 | 天津大学 | The method that first position magnesium diboride bulk superconducting critical current density is improved by autoreaction |
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DATABASE COMPENDEX [Online] ENGINEERING INFORMATION, INC., NEW YORK, NY, US; July 2004 (2004-07), OCHSENKUHN-PETROPOULOU M T ET AL: "Superconducting coatings of MgB2 prepared by electrophoretic deposition", XP055041182, Database accession no. E2005279194004 & ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY JULY 2004 SPRINGER VERLAG DE, vol. 379, no. 5-6, July 2004 (2004-07), pages 792-795, DOI: DOI:10.1007/S00216-004-2668-0 * |
See also references of WO2007147219A1 * |
SERQUIS A ET AL: "Degradation of MgB2 under ambient environment", APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS, AIP, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, MELVILLE, NY, US, vol. 80, no. 23, 10 June 2002 (2002-06-10) , pages 4401-4403, XP012031156, ISSN: 0003-6951, DOI: 10.1063/1.1481548 * |
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