Effect of Graphene Oxide Doping on Bulk High Temperature Superconductors For Power Applications

Bulk high temperature superconductors (HTS) in their non-textured form consists of a network of weak-links at its grain boundaries. The weak-links are a result of an incorrect stoichiometric ratio or misaligned grain planes, and greatly reduce the critical current density. High temperature bulk superconductor, in our case Y
₁
Ba
₂
Cu
₃
O
_7-δ
(YBCO), was doped with graphene oxide in the following weight percentages: 0, 0.5 and 0.7 wt. %. Resistance vs Temperature measurements were taken in zero field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) conditions in order to determine critical transition temperature (T
_c
) and to study the effect on the weak-links. It is observed that T
_c
in doped samples increased and there is an improvement in the weak-link effect in doped samples.