Silicon oil: a cheap liquid additive for enhancing in-field critical current density in MgB2

In this work, the authors report on significant flux pinning enhancement in MgB2 that has been easily obtained using a liquid additive, silicon oil. MgB2 bulk samples with 0 up to 30 wt % silicon oil added were prepared by an in situ reaction. Results showed that the Si and C released from the decomposition of the silicon oil formed Mg2Si and substituted into B sites, respectively. Increasing the amount of the Si oil up to 15 wt % has resulted in the reduction of the lattice parameters, as well as Tc and R(300 K)/R(Tc) values, accompanied by a significant enhancement of Jc(H), Hirr, and Hc2.