2012, Wimbush, Stuart C., Marx, Werner, Barth, Andreas, Hall, Simon R.

This work represents the first study into the addition of iridium into the solgel synthesis of the high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7δ (Y123). Through a biopolymermediated synthetic approach, the homogeneous nature of the precursor sol and the preferred nucleation and growth of Y123 phases allow for a high yield of superconducting nanoparticles with no suppression of the superconducting critical temperature, even at high levels (40 wt%) of iridium addition. We attribute this to iridium not substituting into the Y123 crystal lattice, instead forming an associate phase.