Preparation of yttrium barium copper oxide superconductive fibers via electrospinning through a lactic-acid gel route

Abstract

A new synthetic route to prepare yttrium barium copper oxide superconductive fibers using electrospinning in conjunction with the polymerizable complex method was developed. The as-spun fibers exhibited wool-like tactility and were 5–7 µm thick. The fibers therefore exhibited sufficient flexibility to be fabricated into arbitrary shapes. Although the fibers shrunk and exhibited brittle tactility because of the decomposition of organic compounds during heat treatment, the fibers predominantly maintained their fibrous form. Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed the growth of metal oxide grains during sintering. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the annealed fibers showed good agreement with the pattern of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ. Magnetic property measurements of a ground fiber sample using a superconducting quantum interference device revealed that the superconducting transition temperature of the sample was 91 K.