Analysis of YBCO high temperature superconductor doped with silver nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes using Williamson–Hall and size–strain plot

Abstract

This paper sets out to investigate and compare the effects of Ag nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) doping on the mechanical properties of Y1Ba2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) high temperature superconductor. For this purpose, the pure and doped YBCO samples were synthesized by sol–gel method. The microstructural analysis of the samples is performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The crystalline size, lattice strain and stress of the pure and doped YBCO samples were estimated by modified forms of Williamson–Hall analysis (W–H), namely, uniform deformation model (UDM), uniform deformation stress model (UDSM) and the size–strain plot method (SSP). These results show that the crystalline size, lattice strain and stress of the YBCO samples declined by Ag nanoparticles and CNTs doping.