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Tuning the thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline FeSb2 by the in situ formation of Sb/InSb nanoinclusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2011

Song Zhu ,
Wenjie Xie ,
Daniel Thompson ,
Tim Holgate ,
Menghan Zhou ,
Yonggao Yan  and
Terry M. Tritt
Song Zhu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Wenjie Xie
Affiliation:
Wuhan University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan 430070, HuBei, China
Daniel Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Tim Holgate
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Menghan Zhou
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Yonggao Yan
Affiliation:
Wuhan University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan 430070, HuBei, China
Terry M. Tritt*
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: ttritt@clemson.edu
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Abstract

As a narrow gap, strongly correlated electron semiconductor, FeSb2 single crystals can exhibit a colossal thermopower1 (on the order of −40,000 μV/K or greater) and a relatively high lattice thermal conductivity2 (over 300 W/m-K) at temperatures around 10 K. In this work, a series of FeSb2 polycrystalline samples with different amounts of additional Indium were prepared by a quench-and-anneal method followed by a spark plasma sintering procedure. The x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and elemental analysis verified that the Sb/InSb nanoinclusions were formed in situ on the boundaries of coarse FeSb2 grains. The presence of such nanoinclusions and other as-formed multiscale microstructures can scatter phonons and thus dramatically reduce the corresponding lattice thermal conductivity. Furthermore, the electrical properties can be also improved because of the addition of high mobility carriers from the InSb nanoinclusions. Overall, FeSb2-based materials have shown some promising potential for possible thermoelectric cooling applications at cryogenic temperatures.

Keywords

ThermoelectricNanostructureThermal conductivity
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 15: Focus Issue: Advances in Thermoelectric Materials , 14 August 2011 , pp. 1894 - 1899
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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