IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v2y2011i1d10.1038_ncomms1438.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Highly aligned carbon nanotube forests coated by superconducting NbC

Author

Listed:
  • G.F. Zou

    (School of Physics Science and Technology, Soochow University
    Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • H.M. Luo

    (New Mexico State University)

  • S. Baily

    (Superconductivity Technology Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • Y.Y. Zhang

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • N.F. Haberkorn

    (Superconductivity Technology Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • J. Xiong

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • E. Bauer

    (Materials Chemistry, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • T.M. McCleskey

    (Materials Chemistry, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • A.K. Burrell

    (Materials Chemistry, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • L. Civale

    (Superconductivity Technology Center, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • Y.T. Zhu

    (North Carolina State University)

  • J.L. MacManus-Driscoll

    (University of Cambridge)

  • Q.X. Jia

    (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Abstract

The formation of carbon nanotube and superconductor composites makes it possible to produce new and/or improved functionalities that the individual material does not possess. Here we show that coating carbon nanotube forests with superconducting niobium carbide (NbC) does not destroy the microstructure of the nanotubes. NbC also shows much improved superconducting properties such as a higher irreversibility and upper critical field. An upper critical field value of ~5 T at 4.2 K is much greater than the 1.7 T reported in the literature for pure bulk NbC. Furthermore, the aligned carbon nanotubes induce anisotropy in the upper critical field, with a higher upper critical field occurring when the magnetic field is parallel to the carbon nanotube growth direction. These results suggest that highly oriented carbon nanotubes embedded in superconducting NbC matrix can function as defects and effectively enhance the superconducting properties of the NbC.

Suggested Citation

  • G.F. Zou & H.M. Luo & S. Baily & Y.Y. Zhang & N.F. Haberkorn & J. Xiong & E. Bauer & T.M. McCleskey & A.K. Burrell & L. Civale & Y.T. Zhu & J.L. MacManus-Driscoll & Q.X. Jia, 2011. "Highly aligned carbon nanotube forests coated by superconducting NbC," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-5, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1438
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1438
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms1438
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms1438?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1438. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.