Carbon doping of MgB2 by toluene and malic-acid-in-toluene

The decomposition of malic acid (C4H6O5) in the presence of Mg and B was studied using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) which revealed that malic acid reacted with Mg but not B. Also, the addition of toluene (C7H8) to dissolve malic acid followed by subsequent drying resulted in no reaction with Mg, indicating that the malic acid had decomposed during the dissolution/drying stage. The total carbon contributed by toluene versus a toluene/5 wt.% malic acid mixture was measured using a LECO CS600 carbon analyzer. The toluene sample contained ∼0.4 wt.% C while the toluene/malic acid mixture had ∼1.5 wt.% C, demonstrating that the toluene contributed a significant amount of carbon to the final product. Resistivity measurements on powder-in-tube MgB2 monofilamentary wires established that the toluene/malic acid doped sample had the highest Bc2. However, the toluene-only sample had the highest transport Jc over most of the magnetic field range (0–9 T), equaled only by that of toluene/malic-acid sample in fields above 9 T.

Research highlights
► Both toluene and malic acid contribute carbon to MgB2.
► Toluene is more effective than malic acid for transport properties.
► Total carbon can be measured by LECO carbon analysis.