Improved method for the determination of the oxygen content in YBa2Cu3O7 –δ

Abstract

An improved description of the iodometric titration method for the accurate measurement of the oxygen deficiency δ in YBa₂Cu₃O_{7 –δ} is presented. The crucial amendments to the methods originally published involve better control of the pH and a strict control of the sample dissolution. These improvements lead to an accuracy of better than ±0.01 in δ and show excellent correlation with data obtained from thermal analysis in a reducing atmosphere on a series of superconducting and non-superconducting ceramics exhibiting a large variation in oxygen stoichiometry.