SUPERCONDUCTING FIBERS FROM ORGANOMETALLIC PRECURSORS .2. CHEMISTRY AND LOW-TEMPERATURE PROCESSING

Working principles are developed as guidelines for the selection and/or design of organometallic polymers for processing fiber precursors to metal oxide fibers. These principles form the basis for the selection of metal carboxylate preceramics as an optimal approach to processing yttrium barium cuprate (123) ceramic superconducting fibers. A variety of candidate yttrium, barium, calcium, strontium, bismuth, and copper metal carboxylates were synthesized. Solubility and empirical rheology tests were conducted to screen these compounds to choose spinnable precursor systems. Simple extrusion studies confirmed that THF solutions of mixtures of yttrium, barium, and copper isobutyrates with some quantity of barium 2-ethyl-hexanoates can be used to successfully form 60-70-mu-m diameter 123 precursor fibers.