Superconductors, combustion synthesis

Lebrat, J.-P., and Varma, A., Some further studies in combustion synthesis of the YBa2Cu307., superconductor. Combust. Sci. Tech., 88,177 (1992b). 

Feynman s vision of miniaturization and the Drexler-versus-Smalley debate on feasibility of mechanosynthetic reactions using molecular assemblers were discussed. Fullerenes are the third allotropic form of carbon. Soccer-ball-structured Cgo with a surface filled with hexagons and pentagons satisfies Euler s law. Howard patented the first generation combustion synthesis method for fullerene production. The projected price of the fullerenes has decreased from 165,000 per kg to 200 per kg in the second-generation process. Fullerenes can also be synthesized using chemical methods, a supercritical extraction method, and the electric arc process. Applications of fullerenes include high temperature superconductors, bucky onion catalysts, advanced composites and electromechanical systems, synthetic diamonds. 

Several other novel strategies have been employed for the synthesis of superconducting cuprates some of them were mentioned earlier while discussing the various methods. Especially noteworthy are the use of the combustion method and the alkali-flux method for cuprate synthesis. Superconducting infinite-layered cuprates seem to be possible only when prepared under high pressures because of bonding (structural) considerations [87, 88]. In Table 7 we list the various cuprate superconductors along with their properties and the preferred methods of synthesis. 

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