We are interested in understanding and controlling the process-microstructure-property of REBCO bulk superconductors. For high-performance, low-cost and reliable-fabrication, a variety of approaches have been newly developed in our lab, such as
1) New seed materials of Mg-NdBCO films combined superheating nature and Mg-doping effect have been proved to have higher thermal stability for the growth of high TpREBCO bulk superconductors.
2) Aiming to refined and uniform RE211, a novel TSMG approach was developed, in which instead of RE211+RE123, modified precursor powders (MPP, RE2O3, and BaxCuyOz) were employed. As a result, massive numbers of small-sized RE211 were in-situ derived from the homogeneous nucleation. Furthermore, MPP is used to combine with a compositional graded structure, effectively suppressing the inherent enlargement and segregation of RE211 particles.
3) Two novel seeding strategies for creating incomplete crystallographic shapes of REBCO crystals, which possess self-repairing capability, leading to rapid surface growth. One is in situ self-assembly seeding, by which self-reparability promotes REBCO growth, while the other is vertically-connected seeding, by which self-reparability triggers REBCO nucleation.
4) For recycling failed and hard‐to‐melt REBCO bulks, a two‐step process, the re-melting plus quenching and re-growing was applied. More recently, REBCO buffer-crystals, which used to be discarded, were directly utilized as seeds for producing REBCO bulks.