Sugar Coating of Boron Powder for Efficient Carbon Doping of MgB2 with Enhanced Current-Carrying Performance

Two B or not two B? A liquid solution of carbohydrates, such as plain sugar, with boron powder is developed for coating boron particles with a nanoscale carbon layer. This enables the effective substitution of boron atoms by carbon and homogeneous distribution of defects in the crystal lattice of the superconductor MgB2 during the solid‐state reaction. This in turn leads to significant enhancement of the material's current‐carrying properties (see figure).