Electrical transport properties of YBa2Cu3Oy implanted by CdS nanoparticles: nanoparticle size effect

Cadmium sulfide nanoparticles size effects on the superconducting properties of YBa 2 Cu 3 O y compound were investigated in details. Solid-state reaction method was used for the synthesis of samples with additional amounts of CdS nanoparticles with sizes 6 nm and 12 nm and an additional amount x = 0.1 wt%. Synthesis of cadmium nanoparticles was done by using aqueous methods and they were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD). Optical absorption measurement of the as-synthesized nanoparticles was carried out, and the specific surface areas of the sample were analyzed using a surface area and porosity analyzer. Electrical resistivity and transport critical current densities were measured by using the four-probe technique. The measurements revealed that CdS (6 nm) added samples exhibit higher energy pinning and current densities as compared to pure YBa 2 Cu 3 O y and with additional CdS (12 nm). This implies that the size reduction of CdS can give rise to effective pinning centers which can enhance the superconducting properties in the Y-123 materials.