Electroanalytical Aspects of the HTSC Problem

Electroanalytical methods have been used repeatedly in HTSC studies for the quantitative determination of the chemical composition of ceramics and films, their precursors, and also the degradation products. To analyze a multicomponent non-stoichiometric oxide it is necessary to determine independently with sufficient accuracy, the content of individual components that are simultaneously present in the samples [282]. The independent quantitative determination of oxygen is most essential (difference analysis introduces noticeable errors in the values of the important parameter 6). Also important is the determination of the valence of copper. Certain theories of superconductivity of cuprate systems consider Cu as the principal essential component of HTSCs [9,10], which attracts special attention to this problem. 

Highly sensitive electroanalytical methods are sufficiently efficient. Their main limitation is the lack of reliable procedures for determination of alkaline-earth metals. 

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