Synthesis of porous high-temperature superconductors via a melamine formaldehyde sacrificial template

Emily J Luke; Jason Potticary; Lui R Terry; Huan V Doan; Roemer Hinoplen; Sam Cross; Valeska P Ting; Sven Friedemann; Simon R Hall

doi:10.1039/d2na00333c

Synthesis of porous high-temperature superconductors via a melamine formaldehyde sacrificial template

Nanoscale Adv. 2022 Jun 16;4(14):3101-3108. doi: 10.1039/d2na00333c. eCollection 2022 Jul 15.

Authors

Emily J Luke¹, Jason Potticary¹, Lui R Terry², Huan V Doan¹, Roemer Hinoplen³, Sam Cross³, Valeska P Ting², Sven Friedemann³, Simon R Hall¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, University of Bristol Cantock's Close Bristol BS8 1TS UK simon.hall@bristol.ac.uk.
² Bristol Composites Institute, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol Queen's Building Bristol BS8 1TR UK.
³ School of Physics, HH Wills Physics Laboratory Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TL UK.

Abstract

Nanostructured high-temperature superconductors YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ and Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ were synthesised using a melamine formaldehyde sponge as a sacrificial template, via three solution-based approaches. In the case of YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ , a modified Pechini method produced a material with a superconducting transition at 92 K and a specific surface area of 4.22 m² g^-1. Further analysis with Hg porosimetry determined that the sponge exhibited a porosity of 82%. In the case of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ , this method produced a material that exhibited superconductivity at 86 K with a specific surface area of 9.62 m² g^-1. Hg-porosimetry determined that the BSCCO sponge exhibited a porosity of 78%.