Superconductor research

This topic was created by andre 2 .

  1. andre 2
    Alien

    Superconductor research

    Hi, am I the only one looking at making high temperature superconductors at home?

    Anyone else on here working on these?

    Kind regards, -Andre

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tell us a bit more!

    We may even broadcast this to Reg readers at large

  3. andre 2
    Alien

    Sure thing

    Hi, I'm waiting on a few components, does anyone have a small desktop kiln they'd like to sell or trade please?

    I've managed to source most of the chemicals, the BaCO3 is pyro grade but I've found a workaround to remove any ferrous contamination.

    The really interesting work is dependent on a specific part which I've yet to source, but its well known and just a matter of waiting on the post or finding another supplier

    Also useful would be an IR thermometer and/or a K thermocouple probe if anyone has a spare.

    Kind regards, -Andre

  4. andre 2
    Big Brother

    Problem

    I'm having issues getting the BaCO3 as (a) RM are getting twitchy about powdered chemicals in the post, and (b) the one and only supplier I found is on holiday.

    Which leaves Sigma Aldritch, at least it will be NIST certified and known to be iron free.

    Anyone here know of a source?

    On the flip side, my graphite oxide showed up so thats 1/3 of the project ready to go.

    -A

  5. andre 2
    IT Angle

    Hi, I now have a FB page.

    I've determined that a domestic microwave + silicon carbide from Ebay + fire cement makes an effective DIY setup, just need to regulate the temperature.

    Maybe http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Accurate-Digital-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00EQ1YRDK ?

    Most MW ovens don't like working for hours at a time so additional fans will be deployed as needed.

    Also relevant, its possible to fine tune mag power just by regulating the LV side of the transformer using a modified variac.

    Other approaches also work, such as using triacs but I like the idea of Dial-A-Nuke (tm) :-)

  6. andre 2

    Interesting hack

    Turns out that a cheap IR thermometer (Masterclass) works well.

    You just use a pinhole lens and a calibrated heat source using an LM35, opamp and power resistor to calibrate the IR thermometer with a given distance from outside the MW oven using a small hole in the roof.

    The more expensive ones use an inbuilt parallax sensor to measure distance and compensate accordingly, but they also have inbuilt filters that compensate for heat up to some 900C.

  7. andre 2

    Re. Interesting hack

    Also worth mentioning, a workaround for the lack of cheap oxygen cylinders is a crude electrolysis setup using old hard disk platters and a DC supply such as old PS3 5V@21A.

    You need to vent the hydrogen somewhere safe though.

    One idea I did have is to form the interference layers needed for reasonable yields with Y123 or BSCCO using a 3D printer loaded with the prepared oxides in an inert binder such as naptha (acetone is much too destructive to plastic parts) and an ultrasonic stirrer to keep the oxides suspended in solution.

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  10. andre 2

    Update 21-10-14

    Should probably clarify, these are conventional LN2 superconductors.

    It seems that making it work above 120K would require substantial modifications and due to the diminishing returns effect (ie Tc and Jc opposing in equal proportions) even a hypothetical material superconductive at 300K would still need to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures for most applications.

    I have also discovered that many reports of "room temperature" materials are actually something else entirely ie temperature dependent magnetoresistance.

    Worthy of a paper in their own right..

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