Effect of Addition Mg and Na on Phase Formation and Crystallite 
Size of BPSCCO-2223 Superconductor 
Syahrul Humaidi
1
, Wahyu Azhar R.
1 
,Timbangen Sembiring
1
 and Agung Imaduddin
2
 
1
Physics Department, FMIPA, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jln Bioteknologi no 1 Medan 20155, Indonesia 
2
Research Center for Metallurgy and Materials, Indonesian Institute of Science, PUSPITEK, Tangsel 15314, Indonesia 
Keywords:  BPSCCO-2223, Superconductors, powder, Tc 
zero
 
Abstract:  Superconductor samples based on BPSCCO-2223 have been prepared using solid state reaction. Precursor 
material (powder): Bi
2
O
3
, PbO
2
, SrCO
3
, CaCO
3
 and CuO were mixed together using agate mortar for 2 h 
with twice grindings. Powder were then sintered at 300°C for 6 h with a rate of 10°C/min and 820°C for 20 
hours at the same rate. MgO powder was added for 5%wt and 15%wt, respectively. The same amount as 
well as same procedure was applied for Na
2
CO
3
 powder addition. The powder was then put into palletising 
machine with 250 MPa before sintering at 850°C for 30 hours. Effect of addition Na and Mg on crystallite 
size and phase formation had been observed using  XRD (powder method) type PAN analytical Empyrean. 
XRD-pattern was analysed with aid of Match v1.10 software. Results showed  that crystallite size increased 
for  9.5%  by  addition  of  5%wt  Mg  but  decreased  for  13.6%  with  15%wt  Mg.  Addition  of  5%wt  Na 
decreased  the  crystallite  size  for  31.8%,  whereas  15%wt  Na  decreased  it  to  14.2%.  Maximum  volume 
fraction of Bi-2223 (65.18%) was observed in non-doped sample.
1  INTRODUCTION 
Superconductors  generally  classified  as  low 
temperature  and  high  temperature  depend  on  their 
critical  temperature.  Since  the  discovery  of 
superconductor,  many  researches  have  been 
developing this kind of material around the word.  
Superconductor  materials  Bi-based  become  an 
interesting and promising  material since non toxic, 
inherently  high  critical  temperature  and  multi 
phases. There are many techniques in preparation of 
Bi-based superconductor. The effective method is a 
method  of  solid  state  reaction,  a  mixture  of  oxide, 
peroxide and nitrate (
R Abd-Shukor, 2004; R H Patel et 
al.,  2005).
    Bismuth  Strontium  Calcium  Copper 
Oxide  or  BSCCO  (bisco)  can  be  categorized  as  a 
high  temperature  superconductor  with  formula  of 
Bi
2
Sr
2
Ca
n-1
Cu
n
O
2n+4+x
.  Many  researches  have  been 
done for n=2, whereas for n=1 and n=3 are also  
interesting materials to develop.  BSCCO is similar 
with YBCO superconductor. 
BSCCO  depends  on number  of  its  metallic  ion. 
Thus,  Bi-2201  is  associated  with  n=1  (Bi
2
Sr
2 
CuO
6+x
),  Bi-2212  with  n=2 (Bi
2
Sr
2
CaCu
2 
O
8+x
)  and  
Bi-2223 for n=3 (Bi
2
Sr
2
Ca
2
Cu
3
O
10+x
). Some system 
have been  investigated such as: Bi-2201  (Tc=20K), 
Bi-2212  (Tc=95K),  Bi-2223  (Tc=108K)  and  Bi-
2234  (Tc=104K).  Modifications  have  also  been 
made with Pb substitution (
Abbas et al., 2015). It was 
found that Pb stabilized the structure. MgO addition could 
increase 
Bi-2223  phase  as  reported by   Lu (2016). Na 
could  increase  critical  temperature  (Kir  Ebru,  2016). 
Effect  of  Sb  doped  Bi-based  superconductor reported  by  
Hermiz (2015). 
 
It  has  been  known  that  rare-earth  elements  
improve  the  phase  formation  of    the  Tl-based 
superconductors  (Syahrul  Humaidi,  2019).    In  this 
brief paper we report on the effect of Mg and Na on 
the superconducting properties and phases formation 
of the BPSCCO-2223 phase.  
2  EXPERIMENTAL 
The  samples  were  prepared  using  solid  state 
reaction.  To  start  with,  powder  with  high  purity  of 
Bi
2
O
3
  (powder),  PbO
2
,  SrCO
3
,  CaCO
3
,  CuO,  MgO  and 
Na
2
CO
3
.  All  oxides  are  in  the  powder  preparation.  The 
precursor  BPSCCO  was  synthesized  with  two  times 
grindings for 2h before sintering at  820°C for 20h. 
Mg and Na were added in final step of grinding. The 
next step was palletizing process at 70 ton to prepare