JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS, cilt.727, ss.1213-1220, 2017 (SCI-Expanded)
The effect of coronene (C24H12) addition on the levitation force properties of MgB2 superconductor has been investigated for the first time in this study. The polycrystalline disk-shaped MgB2 + y wt % C24H12 samples (y = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), were synthesized by a pellet/closed tube method at 850 degrees C under Ar atmosphere, after hot pressing at 200 degrees C. XRD analysis indicates a decrease in lattice parameters of coronene added samples and confirms substitution of carbon in boron sites. An increase in lattice strain and a decrease in grain size are observed due to the carbon substitution effect. Vertical and lateral levitation force measurements under zero-field-cooled and field-cooled regimes were carried out at different temperatures of 20, 25 and 30 K. It was found that the coronene addition significantly increases the high-field critical current density of MgB2. The J(c) values were obtained as 4.6 x 10(3) Acm(-2) and 1.3 x 10(4) Acm(-2) for pure and 4 wt % coronene added samples at 20 K and 4 T. In addition, the levitation force measurements show that 4 wt % coronene adding is very effective in increasing both the vertical and lateral levitation force performances at 20 K. The maximum levitation force for 4 wt % coronene added sample corresponds to 7.58 N/g whereas the reference sample shows 6.73 N/g at 20 K in ZFC regime. The results point out that the hydrocarbon of C24H12 is an effective carbon-containing additive for MgB2 and can be useful for optimizing the levitation performance of MgB2 superconductors for potential applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.