Heat Liberation in the Reaction of $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-}\delta$, $Y_2BaCuO_5$, and Binary Compounds in the Ba-Cu-O System with Water

$YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-}\delta$, $Y_2BaCuO_5$ 및 Ba-Cu-O계 화합물의 수분과의 반응에 의한 열방출에 관한 연구

YBa2Cu3O7-$\delta$, Y2BaCuO5, and binary compounds in the Ba-Cu-O system with the nominal composition of Ba2CuO3, BaCuO2, Ba3Cu4O7, Ba3Cu5O8 were synthesized to investigate the heat evolutions and crystalline phases in the hydration reaction of orthorhombic YBa2Cu3O7-$\delta$ phase. The observed crystalline phases were YBa2Cu3O7-$\delta$, Y2BaCuO5, and BaCuO2, or Ba2Cu3O5＋x, and some amount of noncrystalline phase in the Ba-Cu system comounds. In contact with distilled water, YBa2Cu3O7-$\delta$ and Y2BaCuO5 did not have considerable heat liberation, but in the binary compounds of the Ba-Cu-O system, the amount of total heat liberation was increased with respect to the Cu content. It might be that the reaction of high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-$\delta$ with water and/or moisture originated from the unusual oxidation state of Cu ion and the presence of amorphous Ba-Cu oxide compound. The degradation of high Tc superconductor by moisture and water could be controlled by restricting the heterogeneous distribution of Tc comlposition and the formation of second phase, such as stable Y2BaCuO5, and the resulting unstable Ba-Cu oxide compound.