Study the effect of addition of magnetic and non-magnetic nano NiO on pinning property of YBCO superconductor

The inclusion of nano additives in YBCO enhances the critical current, and the addition of magnetic nanoparticles is useful for this purpose at higher magnetic fields. In the present work, we have been investigating the effect of the addition of non-magnetic (NM) and magnetic (M) phases of nano sized NiO on the pinning property of YBCO. Both NM and M phase of nano-dimension NiO are synthesized using the combustion method, and pure YBCO, YBCO/NM or YBCO/M composite samples of 0.1wt % have been synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction technique is used to characterize the phase of pure YBCO and composite samples, the formation of the orthorhombic phase has been confirmed in the pure YBCO, and composites sample. SEM technique is used to know about the morphology of synthesized pure YBCO, NM, and M nano NiO, and their distribution in YBCO composite samples, EDX technique is used for elemental composition and distribution of pure and composite samples. Four probe method has been used for electrical conductivity transport measurement and studied the effect of the inclusion of NM and M nano-NiO on the critical temperature of pure YBCO superconductor. Magnetic measurement (M-H) of all samples has been conducted using a SQUID magnetometer at a temperature of 77 K. Comparative analysis of the enhancement in the critical current and pinning properties for NiO non-magnetic and magnetic added YBCO nanocomposite samples is presented in this work. (author)