Abstract
Recently the environmental reactivity behavior of the copper-oxide superconductors has been studied and the following reactivity trends have been established: YBa 2Cu 3O 7 > Tl 2Ba 2Ca 2Cu 3O 10 > Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8 ≥ La 1.85Sr 0.15CuO 4 > Nd 1.85Ce 0.15CuO 4 > Nd 1.85Th 0.15CuO 4 In this paper, the degradation characteristics of the most reactive cuprate material, YBa 2Cu 3O 7, are compared with those of the fulleride superconductor, K 3C 60. Conductivity vs. exposure time measurements acquired for thin film samples in eight different environments are utilized to estimate the degradation rates for the superconductor materials. The cuprate superconductor remains relatively stable in the presence of dry nitrogen, dry oxygen, vacuum, air and acetonitrile environments, but degrades rapidly upon exposure to water solutions. Samples of K 3C 60 are also unreactive in dry nitrogen and under vacuum, but decompose extremely rapidly upon exposure to dry oxygen, air, acetonitrile or water solutions resulting in the complete loss of the superconducting properties.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
