Papers by Keyword: CoSb₃

Abstract: In order to prevent the sublimation of Sb, protective Mo coatings were deposited on the CoSb₃ substrate by DC magnetron sputtering. Thermal aging behavior of CoSb₃ with Mo coating was investigated by accelerated experiment at 650^oC for 24h. The results indicated that Mo coatings exhibit columnar crystal and body-centered cubic structure. It was found that the weight loss decreases with the increasing thickness of Mo coating. In comparison with naked CoSb₃ material, the degradation of thermoelectric properties of CoSb₃ with Mo coatings decreases under accelerated thermal aging test.

Abstract: In_0.25Co_4-xNi_xSb₁₂ skutterudites were synthesized by encapsulated induction melting and consolidated by hot pressing, and their thermoelectric properties were examined at temperatures from 323 to 823 K. A single δ-phase was obtained successfully by subsequent heat treatment at 823 K for 24 h. In_0.25Co_4-xNi_xSb₁₂ was an n-type semiconductor at all temperatures examined, indicating that Ni atoms acted as electron donors by substituting for Co atoms. The thermal conductivity was reduced considerably by In filling and Ni doping due to an increase in phonon scattering and impurity scattering. The thermoelectric properties were improved due to the low thermal conductivity as a result of In filling and the optimum carrier concentration caused by Ni doping.

Abstract: For researching the thermoelectric properties, bulk NiSb2 and the composite of CoSb3 and NiSb2 were prepared by sintering. The phases of samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and their thermoelectric properties were tested by electric constant instrument and laser thermal constant instrument. Experimental results show that, Bulk NiSb2 and the composite of NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 and 4:6 were prepared by sintering at 600°C for 10min and they are N-type semiconductor materials with high densities of 6.998~7.142g/cm3. The bulk NiSb2 sample sintered is nearly single phase NiSb2, while the major phases of the composite of NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 are major phase CoSb3 with impurity phase NiSb2. The electric resistivity of bulk NiSb2 sample increases with temperature rising while those of the composites (NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 and 4:6) increase at 400~500 °C. The absolute values of Seebeck coefficients of the composite samples (NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 and 4:6) increase with temperature rising and are evidently higher than those of bulk NiSb2. The power factors of the composites (NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 and 4:6) are evidently higher than those of bulk NiSb2 while the power factor of NiSb2 sample varies not obviously with temperature rising, but those of the composites (NiSb2:CoSb3=2:8 and 4:6) increase with temperature rising and reaches the maximum value of 21.3 10-4Wk-2m-1 at 500 °C.

Abstract: For investigating the effect of wet milling time on thermoelectric properties, bulk CoSb3 was prepared via wet milling and sintering. The phases of samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and their thermoelectric properties were tested by electric constant instrument and laser thermal constant instrument. Experimental results show that, the major phases of the samples sintered from the powders wet-milled 2 and 6 hours are CoSb3 while the samples sintered from powders wet-milled 12 and 20 hours have more impurity phases under the experimental conditions in this work. The electric resistivities of the samples sintered from the powders wet-milled 2 and 6 hours increase with rising temperature, which show the characteristic of typical semiconductor electricity and P-type conducting due to the positive Seebeck coefficients. However, the samples sintered from powders wet-milled 12 and 20 hours show N-type conducting due to their negative Seebeck coefficients. The ZT values of the samples sintered from the powders wet-milled 2 and 6 hours are relatively higher than other samples, which increases with the temperature rising at 100~400 °C, the highest value is 0.078.

Abstract: Sn-filled and Fe-doped CoSb3 skutterudites were synthesized by encapsulated induction melting. A single δ-phase was obtained by subsequent annealing, as confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The as-solidified ingot consisted of mixed phases of -CoSb, -CoSb2, δ-CoSb3 and elemental Sb. The phases could be transformed by annealing, and the phases of the as-solidified ingot annealed at 773 K for 24 h transformed to δ-CoSb3. The temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity were examined from 300 K to 700 K. The positive Seebeck coefficient confirmed p-type conduction. The electrical resistivity increased with increasing temperature, which showed that the SnzCo3FeSb12 skutterudite is highly degenerate. The thermal conductivity was reduced by Sn-filling because the filler atoms acted as phonon scattering centers in the skutterudite lattice. The thermoelectric figure of merit was enhanced by Sn filling and its optimum composition was considered to be Sn0.3Co3FeSb12.

Abstract: In this study, we designed a suitable electrode material was designed, Cu-W alloy, which achieved a good thermal match with CoSb3 thermoelectric (TE) material. By means of spark plasma sintering (SPS), Cu-W alloy was introduced into CoSb3/Ti/Cu-W TE element successfully. Finite element analysis showed that the maximum thermal residual stress appeared at the cylindrical surface zone close to the CoSb3/electrode interface. SEM and EPMA results showed that an intermetallic compound (IMC) layer formed at the CoSb3/Ti interface and EDS analysis confirmed the IMC layer was TiSb phase. Shear tests showed that the shear strength of CoSb3/Ti/Cu70W30 joint was about 50Mpa. The potential profile of the interface area was measured by the four-probe method and the result showed no abrupt change in voltage was found around the interface. The high temperature reliability evaluation showed the joint had high thermal duration stability.

Abstract: Thermoelectric (TE) materials are attracting renewed attention for clean energy conversion. Reducing the dimension of materials to 2D/1D (e.g. thin film and nanowire) is one major approach to achieve high figure of merit (ZT) in the existing TE materials system. Electrodeposition has been widely used in fabricating various low dimensional TE materials. However, electrodeposition behavior of CoSb3 skutterudites is rarely reported. In this work, we report the co-deposition behavior of cobalt and antimony in citric based solutions by electrodeposition. The effects of deposition potential and concentration of cobalt and antimony containing precursors were studied. The focus of the study will be on the crystalline properties and chemical composition of the deposited films.

Abstract: The fabrication of electrodes is one of the key techniques in constructing thermoelectric elements for the practical applications. In this work, the commercial active brazing alloy “Incusil-ABA” was used for the joining of CoSb3 to the Cu surface of the graded electrode materials (Cu/AlN/Cu) by using spark plasma sintering (SPS). The bonding was performed in vacuum at temperatures 500°C for 10min. The brazing and diffusion bonding process were investigated by analyzing the crystal structure and microstructure of the bonding interface using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, and its composition distribution was also analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray.

Abstract: The encapsulated induction melting was attempted to prepare the Sn-filled CoSb3 skutterudites and their electronic transport properties were investigated. Single phase δ-CoSb3 was successfully obtained by the subsequent isothermal heat treatment at 823K for 6 days in vacuum. The Sn-filled CoSb3 showed p-type conductivity at 300K to 700K at it is a highly degenerate semiconductor. Lattice contribution was dominant to thermal conductivity and it was considerably reduced by Sn filling in the CoSb3 skutterudite.

Abstract: Co1-xFexSb3 skutterudites were synthesized by encapsulated induction melting and their thermoelectric properties were investigated. Single phase δ-CoSb3 was successfully obtained by the subsequent heat treatment at 773K for 24 hours in vacuum. However, δ-CoSb3 was decomposed to FeSb2 and Sb when x≥0.3, which means that the solubility limit of Fe to Co is x<0.3. The positive signs of Seebeck coefficients for all Fe-doped specimens revealed that Fe atoms acted as p-type dopants by substituting Co atoms. Thermoelectric properties were remarkably enhanced by Fe doping and optimum composition was found to be Co0.7Fe0.3Sb3 in this study.