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Title: Solubility design leading to high figure of merit in low-cost Ce-CoSb3 skutterudites

Abstract

CoSb3-based filled skutterudite has emerged as one of the most viable candidates for thermoelectric applications in automotive industry. However, the scale-up commercialization of such materials is still a challenge due to the scarcity and cost of constituent elements. Here we study Ce, the most earth abundant and low-cost rare earth element as a single-filling element and demonstrate that, by solubility design using a phase diagram approach, the filling fraction limit (FFL) x in CexCo4Sb12 can be increased more than twice the amount reported previously (x = 0.09). This ultra-high FFL (x = 0.20) enables the optimization of carrier concentration such that no additional filling elements are needed to produce a state of the art n-type skutterudite material with a zT value of 1.3 at 850 K before nano-structuring. In conclusion, the earth abundance and low cost of Ce would potentially facilitate a widespread application of skutterudites.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  2. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  3. National Tsing Hua Univ., Hsin-Chu (Taiwan)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1459188
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nature Communications
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats

Tang, Yinglu, Hanus, Riley, Chen, Sinn-wen, and Snyder, G. Jeffrey. Solubility design leading to high figure of merit in low-cost Ce-CoSb3 skutterudites. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1038/ncomms8584.
Tang, Yinglu, Hanus, Riley, Chen, Sinn-wen, & Snyder, G. Jeffrey. Solubility design leading to high figure of merit in low-cost Ce-CoSb3 skutterudites. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8584
Tang, Yinglu, Hanus, Riley, Chen, Sinn-wen, and Snyder, G. Jeffrey. Mon . "Solubility design leading to high figure of merit in low-cost Ce-CoSb3 skutterudites". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8584. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1459188.
@article{osti_1459188,
title = {Solubility design leading to high figure of merit in low-cost Ce-CoSb3 skutterudites},
author = {Tang, Yinglu and Hanus, Riley and Chen, Sinn-wen and Snyder, G. Jeffrey},
abstractNote = {CoSb3-based filled skutterudite has emerged as one of the most viable candidates for thermoelectric applications in automotive industry. However, the scale-up commercialization of such materials is still a challenge due to the scarcity and cost of constituent elements. Here we study Ce, the most earth abundant and low-cost rare earth element as a single-filling element and demonstrate that, by solubility design using a phase diagram approach, the filling fraction limit (FFL) x in CexCo4Sb12 can be increased more than twice the amount reported previously (x = 0.09). This ultra-high FFL (x = 0.20) enables the optimization of carrier concentration such that no additional filling elements are needed to produce a state of the art n-type skutterudite material with a zT value of 1.3 at 850 K before nano-structuring. In conclusion, the earth abundance and low cost of Ce would potentially facilitate a widespread application of skutterudites.},
doi = {10.1038/ncomms8584},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

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