Papers by Keyword: Thermoelectric Property

Abstract: Magnesium silicide (Mg₂Si) has been identified a promising advanced thermoelectric material in temperature range from 300 to 700K. In order to understand thermoelectric properties of Co-doped magnesium silicide, the band structure and electronic density of states have been calculated using a first-principle pseudopotential method. It is shown that the band gap gradually decreases, at the same time degeneracy of the band and the density of states at the fermi level increase as the content of cobalt increases. It was properly predicted that the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity increase, and thermal conductivity decreases as the content of cobalt increases.

Abstract: Thermoelectric (TE) properties of skutterudites DDy(Fe1-xCox)4Sb12 for 0.2  x 0.3 were studied in the temperature range from 300 K to 800 K and compared with values for x = 0. Didymium (DD, 4.76 mass % Pr and 95.24 mass % Nd) was used as natural double filler. At Co-concentrations 0.225  x  0.25 maximum TE-performance was obtained with impressive power-factors (4.5 mW/mK2) and ZTs (ZT1.2 at 700 K). Furthermore these skutterudites maintain the high ZT over a broad temperature range providing an excellent p-leg for high-efficiency thermoelectric power generation.

Abstract: Bulk FexCo4-xSb12 with x varies from 0.1 to 2.0 were prepared by mechanical milling (MM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The phases of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and their thermoelectric properties were tested by electric constant instrument and laser thermal constant instrument. Experimental results show that, the major phases of bulk FexCo4-xSb12 are skutterudite. The electrical resistivities of the products increase first and then decrease. The Seebeck coefficients ( ) are negative when x=0.1 at 100 °C and 200 °C while positive at 300~500 °C. The products with x=0.5~2.0 at 100~500 °C are P type semiconducting materials due to their positive values. The thermal conductivities of most samples increase first and then decrease with x increasing and the maximum is up to 0.39 Wm-1K-1 when x=1.0. The ZT values at 200~500 °C increase first and then decrease with x increasing when x=0.1~1.0 and x=1.0~2.0 respectively and the maximum ZT value is 0.196 when x=1.5 at 400 °C.

Abstract: For thermoelectrics it is important to produce thermodynamically stable bulk nanostructured materials. Ball milling/hot pressing was shown to reduce the crystallite size by a factor of 100 and to reach about 100 nm with dislocation densities of 1012 – 1013m-2. Thereby thermoelectric properties of single, double and multifilled Sb-based skutterudites were improved significantly leading to figures of merit ZT, which in some cases are twice as high as those of their microstructured counterparts. With HPT treatment the crystallite size can be decreased to even 50 nm with dislocation densities as high as 1015m-2. The small grains as well as the high dislocation density result in a further lowering of thermal conductivity holding a high potential for future enhancement of ZT.

Abstract: P- and N-type thermoelectric iron oxides were developed. The p- and n-type thermoelectric iron oxides were based on delafossite-type CuFeO2 and spinel-type Fe3O4, respectively. The dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, of the bulk p- and n-type iron oxides were 0.15 and 0.10 at 1200K, respectively. The ZT values were improved by the introduction of nano-voids. The physical properties of these iron oxides are structurally unique because of the triangular, or “Kagome,” arrangement of FeO6 octahedra. The delafossite-type CuFeO2 becomes anti-ferromagnet at temperatures less than 20K. The inverse spinel-type Fe3O4 is a ferrimagnet　at room temperature. In both crystals, the iron ions are assumed to be in the high-spin state.

Abstract: A partially cobalt-substituted solid solution of Nowotny chimney-ladder phase, (Mn1-xCox)Si􀀂, has been prepared using a tetra-arc-type furnace and a subsequent annealing process. The compounds consist of two tetragonal subsystems of [Mn1-xCox] and [Si], with an irrational c-axis ratio 􀀂 = cMn/cSi ~ 1.7. The crystal structure and thermoelectric properties of (Mn1-xCox)Si􀀂 solid solution were compared with those of the Fe-substituted solid solution, (Mn1-xFex)Si􀀂. In the case of Co-series, extra valence electrons are introduced relative to Fe-series, since the valence electron count is 3d74s2 for Co but 3d64s2 for Fe, respectively. It was naturally expected that the Feand Co-substituted MnSi􀀁 becomes n-type conductor from the p-type one at x > 0.23(5) and x > 0.06(1), respectively. Experimentally, the Fe-substituted samples become n-type at x > 0.28 but it is not the case for the Co-substituted ones. It is thus evident that there is an unknown factor which controls the thermoelectric properties of Co-substituted samples.

Abstract: Iron disilicide (-FeSi2, and -FeSi2+Cu0.1wt%) were prepared by a field-activated pressure assisted synthesis(FAPAS) method from elemental powders and the thermoelectric properties were investigated. The average grain size of these products is about 0.3m. The thermal conductivity of these materials is 3-4wm-1K-1in the temperature range 300-725K. These products’ figure of merit is 28.50×10-4 in the temperature range 330-450K. The additions of Cu promote the phase transformation of -Fe2Si5 + -FeSi → β-FeSi2 and shorten the annealing time. It is proved that FAPAS is a benign and rapid process for sintering of -FeSi2 thermoelectric materials.

Abstract: A series of (Ca0.9Gd0.1)3Co4O9/xAg(x=0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2) ceramics were prepared by a polyacrylamide gel method and Spark Plasma Sintering. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that small size Ag particles were dispersed into the (Ca0.9Gd0.1)3Co4O9(CGCO) matrix. The electrical conductivity of the composites was obviously higher than that of (Ca0.9Gd0.1)3Co4O9, and increased with increase of Ag content. However, the addition of Ag seemed to have a negative impact on the Seebeck coefficient (S) of the composites samples due to its poor S. Since the increase of electrical conductivity (σ) is more significant than the degradation of S, the power factor (P=σS2) was found to be improved by the addition of Ag. At 973 K, the P value of the sample with x =0.2 reached 3.17×10-4 W•m-1•K-2, which was 12.5% higher than that of Ca3Co4O9(CCO) bulk material.

Abstract: Solid solution formation is a common and effective way to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity for thermoelectric materials because of additional phonon scattering by point defects and grain boundaries. In the present work we prepared In2Te3–SnTe compounds using a mild solidification technique and evaluated their thermoelectric properties in the temperature range from 318705 K. Measurements reveal that the transport properties are strongly dependent on the chemical composition  In2Te3 content, and lattice thermal conductivity significantly reduces above a minimum In2Te3 concentration, which can possibly be explained by an introduction of the vacancy on the indium sublattice and periodical vacancy planes. The highest thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of 0.19 can be achieved at 705 K, and a big improvement of In2Te3 based alloys would be expected if a proper optimization to the chemical compositions and structures were made.

Abstract: Pb- and La-substituted (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2Co2Oy samples were prepared by solid-state reaction method and the effect of element substitution on the high-temperature thermoelectric properties was investigated. It was found that the presence of Pb and La elements improved the thermoelectric properties of the Bi2Sr2Co2Oy system owing to the simultaneous increase of conductivity and Seebeck coefficients. The optimal thermoelectric performance was obtained in Pb and La co-substituted samples and the power factor could reach 2.1×10-4Wm-1K-2 at 1000K.