China is one of the few countries in the world that have mastered advanced superconducting material technology
Over the past decades, scientific and technological workers have been unswervingly committed to tackling key problems
Expect to find more new superconducting materials
And expand its application field through mechanical modification
Superconductors are superconductors
A conductor with zero resistance at a certain temperature
Characteristics of existing zero resistance
It can avoid conductor heating
It also has complete diamagnetic characteristics
Professor Zhou Youhe and his team, School of civil engineering and mechanics, Lanzhou University
Successfully made “size” with exclusive formula
3D printing technology is adopted for the first time
Ultra light YBCO BULK superconductors were prepared
YBCO superconducting bulk materials are yttrium oxide, barium carbonate and copper oxide
A mixture of three powders
In the past, researchers sintered it in a high temperature furnace
However, it is difficult to complete the preparation of various shapes, especially complex shapes
Zhou and his team thought about how to make the powder into “cream”
You can get the shape you want
They added “additives” to the raw materials
According to a certain proportion of “secret slurry”
Set up 3D printer accurately
The “slurry” drips orderly from the printer nozzle
Follow the established route
Printed superconducting bulk samples of different shapes
Because of high critical temperature, high critical current density and high magnetic field capture performance
YBCO superconductors are widely used in contactless magnetic levitation flywheel energy storage
It has a good application prospect
For example, the flywheel model of space gyro made by 3D printer is realized
Suspension and rotation at liquid nitrogen temperature
It lays a foundation for engineering application
Research and development of new “size” and application of new methods
The fabrication of YBCO BULK superconductors with various shapes is realized
Critical current density of superconducting bulk obtained by new method
It is more than 3 times higher than the traditional sintering process