The practical application of high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs) such as (YBCO) is critically hindered by their intrinsic brittleness, which compromises structural integrity. To overcome this limitation, this work introduces a synergistic strategy combining Ag incorporation, one-pot synthesis, and fiber-stacking densification. YBCO/Ag composite fibers were fabricated via Solution Blow Spinning (SBS), pressed into pellets, and systematically compared with pellet-shaped samples obtained from conventionally compacted one-pot synthesized YBCO/Ag powders. The fiber-based route yielded a denser, plate-like microstructure, leading to a remarkable 125% enhancement in Vickers hardness for the optimal 5 wt% Ag composition relative to the powder-based reference. This composition also exhibited the highest critical current density ( J c ), which is attributed to a balance between Ag-induced microstructural refinement, favoring flux pinning, and the preservation of intergranular Josephson coupling. At higher silver concentrations, the increased fraction of metallic normal regions weakened the intergranular connectivity and degraded the superconducting performance. Overall, the combination of homogeneous silver incorporation via one-pot synthesis and fiber-based processing establishes a promising route for producing mechanically robust HTSC components with enhanced multifunctional performance under demanding operating conditions.
Brambilla et al. (2026) studied this question.