Mechanical and Electrical Properties of (CuTl)-1223 Phase Added with Nano-FeO.

Superconducting samples of type (CuTl)-1223 added with nano-FeO ( x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 1.0 wt.%) were prepared by solid-state reaction technique. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for phase analysis and microstructure examination. The elemental content of the prepared samples was determined using particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE), whereas the Oxygen-content of these samples was obtained using non Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy at 3 MeV proton beam. It was found that the Oxygen-content of (CuTl)-1223 phase was not affected with the addition of nano-FeO. The electrical resistivity measurements showed that the superconducting transition temperature ( T) increases up to x=0.2 wt.%, followed by a systematic decrease for x>0.2 wt.%. In addition, room temperature Vickers microhardness ( H) measurements were carried out at different applied loads (0.49-2.94 N) to study the performance of the mechanical properties of samples. The experimental results of H were analyzed using different models such as elastic, energy dissipation, energy balance and modified energy balance models. It has been found that the energy dissipation model is in a good agreement with the microhardness data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]