Heterogeneous in-situ nanostructure contributes to the thermoelectric performance of Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3}

Journal Article · Mon Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4802780· OSTI ID:22162862

Lin, Jianping; Ma, Lingzhi; Yang, Baifeng; Fei, Youjian; Lei, Lei ^[1]; Qiao, Guanjun ^[1]; Ren, Yang ^[2]

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1. State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049 (China)
2. X-ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)

Single-phase Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} and ZnSb-containing samples were prepared by Plasma Activated Sintering. An abrupt decrease of thermal conductivity was found at about 400 K, which is attributed to the microstructure change of Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3}. Nanoscale inclusions and compositional inhomogeneities were found in Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} sample at 473 K by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The phonon scattering is enhanced by increasing grain boundaries and chaotic structure, which reduces the thermal conductivity and increases the thermoelectric performance of Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} at elevated temperature. The Rietveld refinement results show that large ZnSb grains in ZnSb-containing samples will accommodate excess Zn atoms, and then reduce thermoelectric performance.

• OSTI ID: 22162862
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 16; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ANTIMONY ALLOYS
ATOMS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN REFINEMENT
INCLUSIONS
NANOSTRUCTURES
PERFORMANCE
PHONONS
PLASMA
RESOLUTION
SCATTERING
SINTERING
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THERMOELECTRICITY
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ZINC ALLOYS