Australia's Science Forum

Hi Lovelys

I'm wondering how you all care for and store your superconductors ?

This is the kit we have . The instructions say to thoroughly dry the Superconductor Disc immediately after use when it has warmed to handling temp ( remember its been in Liquid Nitrogen ) , then store it in its sealed bag . Don't store next to Ice or water .
So this we have been doing ......but the next year when we got out the Superconductor , it had crumbed into tiny crumbs

So we ordered another one , this time we dried it in paper towel ASAP and placed it in a desiccator for a day before packing away in its sealed bag with a silica gel sachet in it .

A year later , get it out and its not crumbs but severely cracked . Incidentally the Prac was run and it still worked fine .

So this time I have placed it in the incubator on low to make damn sure its dry before storing . Hopefully it will still be the same next year .....if not then its another $80 odd for a new one . By the time you get Liquid nitrogen and a superconductor every second year this is an expensive prac to run .
So how do you do it ? .Am I the only one that kills these things ? Is it our High humidity ?
Thoughts

I'd try storing it with a sachet of silica gel or something similar. Or possibly store it in a dessicator.

Wish me luck with mine! Luckily Tamworth is relatively dry most of the time.