Superconducting Properties of (MnFe2O4)x/CuTl-1223 Composites

The effects of nanometer size MnFe2O4 particles addition on different properties of (Cu0.5Tl0.5) Ba2Ca2Cu3O10−δ (CuTl-1223) superconducting phase was studied. MnFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol-gel method and were added to CuTl-1223 superconducting phase synthesized by solid-state reaction to get (MnFe2O4)x/CuTl-1223; x = 0 ~ 2.0 wt. % composites. The effects of these magnetic nanoparticles on structural, morphological and superconducting transport properties of host CuTl-1223 phase were investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-rays (EDX) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Four-Probe Resistivity (ρ) measurements. Inclusion of these nanoparticles exhibited no change in crystal structure of host CuTl-1223 superconducting phase. Suppression of superconducting properties was probably due to enhanced effective scattering of carriers across magnetic natured MnFe2O4 nanoparticles residing at the grain-boundaries of CuTl-1223 superconductor.