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Thermoelectric nanocomposite from the metastable void filling in caged skutterudite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2011

Zhen Xiong ,
Lili Xi ,
Juan Ding ,
Xihong Chen ,
Xiangyang Huang ,
Hui Gu ,
Lidong Chen  and
Wenqing Zhang
Zhen Xiong
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Lili Xi
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Juan Ding
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Xihong Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Xiangyang Huang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Hui Gu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Lidong Chen*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Wenqing Zhang*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
*
b)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: chenlidong@mail.sic.ac.cn
c)e-mail: wqzhang@mail.sic.ac.cn
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Abstract

We report a novel approach to realize the formation of well-distributed nanodispersions in n-type filled skutterudite through the manipulation of metastable void fillers by a designed sophisticated process of materials synthesis. Metastable Ga filling in CoSb3 is proved to happen at high temperature. The subsequent controlled annealing procedure drives Ga out of the crystal voids and finally leads to the homogeneous dispersion of GaSb nanodots with an average size of 11 nm in CoSb3 matrix. The grain size of nanodispersions can be manipulated by the controlled cooling procedure. The well-distributed nanodispersions are observed to enhance Seebeck coefficients and reduce lattice thermal conductivity at low temperature. Therefore, the thermoelectric performance of nanocomposite is improved in the whole temperature range. The highest figure of merit (ZT) is obtained to be 1.45 at 850 K, and an average ZT of 0.99 in 300−850 K is achieved for Yb0.26Co4Sb12/0.2GaSb nanocomposite.

Keywords

ThermoelectricNanoscaleMicrostructure

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Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 15: Focus Issue: Advances in Thermoelectric Materials , 14 August 2011 , pp. 1848 - 1856
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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References

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