Thermogravimetric analysis — a powerful tool for the refinement of the synthesis process of Hg-based superconductors

The paper presents the results of studies on thermogravimetric (TG) characterization of precursors and Hg-based superconductors synthesized by the sol–gel method. TG experiments were performed in an oxygen flow in order to understand the decomposition mechanisms of the fabricated gels and to determine the synthesis temperature of the intermediate precursors for the HgBa2CaCu2O6+δ, HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ, and Hg1−xTlxBa2Ca2Cu3O8+δ superconductors. The optimum annealing temperature for a desired oxygen content in the superconducting compounds has been established by thermogravimetric measurements. To assist the interpretation of the obtained results the elemental analyses of the synthesized products were performed by AAS and EDS (SEM) methods.