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Neutron and X-ray powder diffraction study of skutterudite thermoelectrics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2016

H. Wang ,
M. J. Kirkham ,
T. R. Watkins ,
E. A. Payzant ,
J. R. Salvador ,
A. J. Thompson ,
J. Sharp ,
D. Brown  and
D. Miller
H. Wang*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
M. J. Kirkham
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
T. R. Watkins
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
E. A. Payzant
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
J. R. Salvador
Affiliation:
General Motor Global R&D Center, Warren, Michigan
A. J. Thompson
Affiliation:
Marlow Industries, Dallas, Texas
J. Sharp
Affiliation:
Marlow Industries, Dallas, Texas
D. Brown
Affiliation:
Molycorp, Greenwood Village, Colorado
D. Miller
Affiliation:
Molycorp, Greenwood Village, Colorado
*
a) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: wangh2@ornl.gov
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Abstract

N- and p-type filled-skutterudite materials prepared for thermoelectric power generation modules were analyzed by neutron diffraction at the POWGEN beam line of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The skutterudite powders were processed by melt spinning, followed by ball milling and annealing. The n-type material consists of Ba–Yb–Co–Sb and the p-type material consists of Di–Fe–Ni–Sb or Di–Fe–Co–Sb (Di = didymium, an alloy of Pr and Nd). Powders for prototype module fabrication from General Motors and Marlow Industries were analyzed in this study. XRD and neutron diffraction studies confirm that both the n- and p-type materials have cubic symmetry. Structural Rietveld refinements determined the lattice parameters and atomic parameters of the framework and filler atoms. The cage filling fraction was found to depend linearly on the lattice parameter, which in turn depends on the average framework atom size. This knowledge may allow the filling fraction of these skutterudite materials to be purposefully adjusted, thereby tuning the thermoelectric properties.

Keywords

skutteruditethermoelectricneutron diffractionX-ray diffraction
Type
Technical Articles
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 16 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © International Centre for Diffraction Data 2016 

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