Effect of porosity on the mechanical properties of Lead-Antimony-Silver-Tellurium (LAST) thermoelectric materials

Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2007

OSTI ID:968257

Trejo, Rosa M ^[1]; Case, Eldon D ^[2]; Lara-Curzio, Edgar ^[1]; Ren, Fei ^[2]; Ni, Jennifer E. ^[2]

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1. ORNL
2. Michigan State University, East Lansing

There is considerable interest in thermoelectric generators for a variety of applications, including the conversion of waste energy into electricity. LAST (Lead-Antimony-Silver-Tellurium) has a ZT (dimensionless figure of merit) of 1.7 at 700 K, which implies potential application of LAST materials in the fabrication of thermoelectric generators with relatively high efficiency at high temperatures. Porosity is important when looking at thermoelectric materials as porosity in brittle materials affects a range of electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Using the non-destructive method of resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS), the effect of porosity on the room temperature Young's modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson's Ratio are investigated for two LAST compositions (Ag0.43Pb18Sb1.2Te20 and Ag0.86Pb19Sb1.0Te20) and two fabrication processes (casting and hot pressing).

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); High Temperature Materials Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: EE USDOE - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 968257
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CASTING
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRICITY
FABRICATION
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PERFORMANCE
POROSITY
PRESSING
Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy
SHEAR
SPECTROSCOPY
THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS
THERMOELECTRIC MATERIALS
Thermoelectric
WASTES
elastic moduli
porosity