Intensive research is underway worldwide to develop new conductive materials for applications in the power industry. Such tests aim to increase the electrical conductivity of materials for conductors and cables, thus increasing the current carrying capacity of the line and reducing the loss of electricity transmission. The scientific discovery of recent years, graphene, one of the allotropic types of carbon with very high electrical and thermal conductivity and mechanical strength, creates great opportunities for designing and producing new materials with above-standard operational properties. This project concentrates on developing technology for manufacturing aluminum-graphene and copper-graphene composites intended to be used to produce a new generation of power engineering conductors. In particular, we present the results of the research on the mechanical synthesis of aluminum-graphene and copper -graphene composites, as well as the results of the electric, mechanical, and structural properties of rods obtained after the extrusion process and wires after the drawing process.

In the present study, our emphasis was directed towards the fabrication process of long multi-core superconducting wires, each spanning several hundred meters. These wires feature an in situ MgB₂ core, an ex situ MgB₂ barrier, and a copper shield. The cost-effectiveness of these constituent materials, coupled with a judicious arrangement of internal components, facilitates the utilization of an economical shielding material for the resulting wire. Our ongoing efforts have successfully yielded several hundred-meter-long wire sections possessing favorable superconducting characteristics, making them suitable for self-field applications, such as direct current (DC) power lines.