Modification of physical and structural properties of Bi1.8Pb0.4Sr2Ca2.2Cu3Oy ceramics induced by annealing

The effect of annealing temperatures on the structural and superconducting properties of Bi-2223 ceramics prepared by the solid state reaction method has been investigated. Annealing temperatures were varied from 730 to 830 °C while time was kept constant at 50 h. Electrical resistivity studies showed that samples annealed at 830 °C for 50 h have the lowest resistivity values at room temperature while critical transition temperature increases slightly. XRD data have shown that all samples contain Bi-2223 as the major one. The highest diamagnetism behavior has been found in the sample treated at 830 °C. In addition, Jc values of the samples, calculated from the hysteresis loops using the Bean's model, decreased with increasing annealing temperatures until 780 °C and increase for the highest annealing temperature which is 830 °C for this work. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.M.A. Madre, J.C. Diez and A. Sotelo wish to thank the Gobierno de Aragón (Consolidated Research Groups T87 and T12) for financial support. M.A. Madre acknowledges the MINECO-FEDER(Project MAT2011-22719) for funding.Peer Reviewe