Microstructural studies of YBCO/LLDPE superconductor/polymer composites using XRD and Raman spectroscopy

Abstract

Strong Meissner effect properties of High Temperature Superconducting YBCO materials make them ideal candidates for magnetic shielding applications. A series of flexible composites formed by mixing such high T _c YBCO superconductor with linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) are synthesized and their crystalline structure, average grain size, and the crystallinity of the composite samples are investigated using X-ray diffraction measurement. Further, Raman scattering experiments from these composites indicated the presence of well-defined lines as well as a broadband of impurity phase. The intensity of the lines is found to decrease with decreasing proportion of the polymer and increasing proportion of the superconductor in the composites indicating that the composites remained phase separated during the formation process.

Keywords:

• high-temperature superconductivity
• composite materials
• X-ray diffraction
• YBCO
• Raman spectroscopy
• electromagnetic shielding