Fabrication of 2-3 YBa2Cu3O7-x/polymer composite with Tc above liquid nitrogen temperature

This paper reports on high Tc superconducting oxide woven networks fabricated and used to form YBa2Cu3O7-x/polymer composites showing a superconducting resistive transition above liquid nitrogen temperature. The ceramic network was produced by soaking biaxially woven carbon fabric in a solution containing the stoichiometric proportions of Y, Ba, and Cu. Decomposition of the infiltrated carbon fabric and reaction of the remaining oxides resulted in a ceramic replica of the original fabric. The fired networks had a strand diameter ∼100 μm and were embedded in a polymer matrix to produce 2--3 superconducting/polymer composites with a superconducting transition of ∼89 K. Linear shrinkage of the networks was constrained during firing, although the radial shrinkage of the superconducting strands occurred freely. XRD of the networks indicated the presence of BaCO3, CuO, and BaCuO2 as impurity phases