Thermoelectric properties of Ni-doped CeFe4Sb12 skutterudites

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3677971· OSTI ID:1033553

Qiu, P ^[1]; Liu, R ^[1]; Yang, Jiong ^[2]; Shi, X ^[1]; Huang, X. Y. ^[1]; Zhang, W ^[1]; Chen, Lidong ^[2]; Yang, Jihui ^[3]; Singh, David J ^[4]

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1. Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SICCAS)
2. Chinese Academy of Sciences
3. University of Washington
4. ORNL

We have prepared Ni-doped p-type skutterudites Ce{sub y}Fe{sub 4-x}Ni{sub x}Sb{sub 12} and systematically studied their thermoelectric properties. The lattice parameters of these skutterudites are found to be sensitive to both the Ni content and Ce-filling fraction. With increasing Ni content, the electrical conductivity decreases and the Seebeck coefficient increases, consistent with the expected decrease in hole concentration due to the extra electrons introduced by Ni. All Ni-doped samples possess similar band gap values. We also find that the Ni-doped Ce{sub y}Fe{sub 4-x}Ni{sub x}Sb{sub 12} system has electrical transport properties similar to those of Co-doped Ce{sub y}Fe{sub 4-x}Co{sub x}Sb{sub 12} system at a similar nominal hole concentration based on a simple charge counting. We do, however, find a pronounced bi-polar phenomenon in thermal conductivity that rapidly increases for Ni-doped samples when temperature is above 600 K. Importantly, Ni-doped samples have higher dimensionless thermoelectric figures of merit values than CeFe{sub 4}Sb{sub 12} over the entire temperature range measured. Therefore, Ni doping is useful for improving the energy conversion efficiency in applications.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1033553
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 111, Issue 2; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANTIMONY
CERIUM
DOPED MATERIALS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRONS
ENERGY CONVERSION
IRON
LATTICE PARAMETERS
NICKEL COMPOUNDS
SEEBECK EFFECT
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMOELECTRIC MATERIALS
THERMOELECTRIC PROPERTIES
TRANSPORT