On the Mechanism of Cuprate Crystal Growth: The Role of Mixed Metal Carbonates |
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| Authors: | David C Green Rebecca Boston Stefan Glatzel Martin R Lees Stuart C Wimbush Jason Potticary Wataru Ogasawara Simon R Hall |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK;2. Functional Materials and Devices Group, Materials Science and Engineering, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK;3. School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Joseph Black Building, University Avenue, Glasgow, UK;4. Superconductivity and Magnetism Group, Physics Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK;5. Robinson Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand;6. Complex Functional Materials Group, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK;7. Department of Bioengineering/Bioenergetics, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan |
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| Abstract: | The mechanism of formation of the superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (Bi‐2212) has been an open question since its discovery in 1988. By controlling crystal growth through the use of biopolymers as multivalent cation chelating agents, it is demonstrated through X‐ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis, that it is the formation of a mixed metal carbonate eutectic that promotes the formation of the target phase. X‐ray diffraction experiments, supported by infrared spectroscopy, identify this phase as (Sr1?x Ca x )CO3. This knowledge allows to further reduce the eutectic melting point by the incorporation of a biopolymer rich in potassium ions, resulting in the scalable formation of Bi‐2212 at a temperature 50 °C lower than has been achieved previously. |
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| Keywords: | carbonates inorganic materials mechanisms oxides superconductors |
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