Tape casting fluorinated YBC123

Tape casting the superconducting Ba-Y-Cu oxide has been accomplished by several laboratories and shows promise for being a versatile forming technique. The major problem is low current density, probably due to lack of grain alignment and grain boundary related weak links. The latter problem may be due to formation of carbonates and hydroxides during binder burnout. Preliminary work done at Alfred shows that F treated powder is resistant to attack by steam at 100 C. Such corrosion resistant powder cast as form tape should survive the binder burnout without the detrimental grain boundary phases that develop from reaction of the superconducting phase, steam and carbon dioxide. This paper presents the results of an investigation of tape casting fluorinated powder