Effect of vapors of the simplest alcohols on the structure and properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_y compounds

ABSTRACT

With low-temperature treatments (200–300°C), the effect of alcohol vapors on the structural and electrophysical properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_y (123) having different oxygen content has been studied. It has been established that CuO and YBa₂Cu₃O_y are catalysts for the dehydration of alcohols to form water and aldehydes. Similar to the action of water vapors, the treatment in vapors of the simplest alcohols leads to hydration of 123 and its transformation into the pseudo-124 phase. In this case, planar stacking faults are formed to be centres of pinning and can improve the critical characteristics of high-temperature superconductors (HTSС) in magnetic fields. The influence of the alcohol vapors is more ‘mild’ as compared to the treatment in water vapors. At t = 300°C, the alcohols are reducing agents of copper, followed by the decomposition of 123 into simple compounds.

KEYWORDS:

• High-temperature superconductors (HTSC)
• hydration
• a structure
• electrophysical properties

Acknowledgments

X-ray diffraction patterns and magnetometric measurements were performed at the Collaborative Access Center for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials in the Institute of Metals Physics, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Chromatographic research was carried out in the Shared Center ‘SAOS’ IOS of the UrB RAS.

The authors express their gratitude to the employees of the Center A.V. Korolev, V.S. Gaviko for carrying out magnetometric and X-ray measurements, as well as to M.G. Pervova for conducting chromatographic analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

I. B. Bobylev http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3391-3861

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Pressure: [Grant Number АААА-А18-118020190104-3]; Spin: [Grant Number АААА-А18-118020290104-2].