The combination of preformed metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) with High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) using low-cost Chemical Solution Deposition (CSD) approach is one of the promising strategies in the enhancement of superconducting properties at high magnetic fields for the fabrication of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) superconducting layers¹. BaMO₃ (M= Ti, Zr and Hf) and BaM₂O₆ (M= Nb and Ta) perovskite and double perovskite NPs are good candidates due to their compatibility with YBCO precursor solutions and growth. Using a hybrid method (combining aqueous sol-gel and solvothermal approaches), we are able to obtain small-sized, crystalline, homogenous and stable BaMO₃ NPs. In addition, we are also able to tune their size in a range of 4 - 40 nm, controlling the hydrolysis step involved in the reaction mechanism². Moreover, using a surfactant-free solvothermal method, we are able to obtain small-sized (4-6 nm) BaM₂O₆ NPs, avoiding their agglomeration by a post-synthetic surface functionalization. Going one step further in the YBCO precursor solution, we work in a new robust and reproducible fluorine-free solution based on propionates and amine-related additive achieving very homogeneous and reproducible multideposited films which enable YBCO films growth through the ultrafast non-equilibrium Transient Liquid Assisted Growth method (TLAG-CSD). The compatibility of NPs with this new YBCO precursor solution has been demonstrated obtaining homogenous precursor films with NPs homogenously distributed, crystalline and without coarsening. We prove the compatibility and chemical/thermal stability of NPs with the TLAG approach to grow ultrafast YBCO nanocomposites³.

[1] Nat Mater. Et al. 6, 2012, 329-36
[2] RSC Adv. 10, 2020, 28872-28878
[3] Nat Commun. 11, 2020, 344

Keywords: Metal Oxide Nanoparticles, Superconducting Nanocomposite Thick Film, Chemical Solution Deposition , Transient Liquid Assisted Growth