Effect of aromatic hydrocarbon addition on in situ powder-in-tube processed MgB2 tapes

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that adding aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene, naphthalene, and thiophene significantly enhances the superconducting critical current density in MgB2 tapes, mainly due to carbon substitution and grain size reduction.

Contribution

It introduces the use of aromatic hydrocarbons as effective additives to improve MgB2 superconducting tapes, a novel approach compared to traditional methods.

Findings

Aromatic hydrocarbons increase Jc values in MgB2 tapes.

Benzene addition achieves Jc of 130A/mm2 at 4.2K and 10T.

Jc enhancement linked to carbon substitution and grain size reduction.

Abstract

We fabricated in situ powder-in-tube processed MgB2/Fe tapes using aromatic hydrocarbon of benzene, naphthalene, and thiophene as additives, and investigated the superconducting properties. We found that these aromatic hydrocarbons were very effective for increasing the Jc values. The Jc values of 20mol% benzene-added tapes reached 130A/mm2 at 4.2K and 10T. This value was almost comparable to that of 10mol% SiC-added tapes and about four times higher than that of tapes with no additions. Microstructure analyses suggest that this Jc enhancement is due to both the substitution of carbon for boron in MgB2 and the smaller MgB2 grain size.