Magnetic nanoparticles in MgB2

• Critical current density in MgB2 composites with magnetic nanoparticles is analyzed.
• A maximum in critical current occurs if the magnetization at Tc is 0.015 emu/cm3.
• A tentative description in the framework of collective pinning is proposed.

Additional pinning generated by magnetic nanoparticles which were created or inserted within polycrystalline MgB2 superconductor is analyzed. The composites were built in two ways: (i) ceramization of polysiloxane-co-ferrocene based copolymers and (ii) insertion of coated nanoparticles. The composites present two types of pinning: core pinning based on the variation of the superconducting parameter when a non-superconducting particle is present and a magnetic pinning resulting from the interaction of the screening currents around the particle and the flux line. All samples show a consistent improvement of the critical current density when the magnetic moment of the sample in normal state is finite but small, showing a maximum for a magnetic moment of 0.015 emu/cm3. A tentative description of the effect of magnetic pinning is presented in the framework of the collective pinning.