Thermoanalytical Evaluation of YBCO Superconductors via Energy Reaction Index (ERI)
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Keywords:
YBCO, Y123, Y358, Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Energy–Reaction Index (ERI), Thermochemical EfficiencyAbstract
The thermochemical efficiency and phase evolution of YBa2Cu3O7-S (Y123) and Y3Ba5Cu8O18
(Y358) superconductors were investigated using differential thermal analysis (DTA). To provide a
complementary metric to conventional conversion-factor (CF) methods, an Energy–Reaction Index (ERI)
was introduced and applied to quantify the balance between exothermic and endothermic contributions
during synthesis. The DTA profiles exhibited a single sharp exothermic peak for Y123 near 940 C and
multiple broader peaks for Y358 between 850 C and 970 C, indicating distinct formation kinetics. The
calculated ERI values (1.84 for Y123 and 1.29 for Y358) revealed that Y123 undergoes a more complete
and thermochemically efficient reaction process, while Y358 experiences distributed energy release
associated with multi-step crystallization. Segmental ERI analysis across temperature intervals confirmed
the kinetic limitation of Y358 and the progressive energy coherence of Y123. The findings demonstrate
that ERI is a reliable and straightforward tool for evaluating reaction completeness and energy utilization
in complex oxide superconductors. This approach can assist in optimizing heat-treatment schedules,
oxygen partial pressure control, and precursor ratios for future YBCO-based materials.
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References
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