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Title: Thermoelectric Properties of Au- Containing Type-I Clathrates Ba8AuxGa16-3xGe30+2x

Journal Article · · Journal of Alloys and Compounds
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Optimal Inc., Plymouth, Michigan 48170, USA
  2. General Motors, Global Research and Development
  3. University of Washington
  4. ORNL
  5. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
  6. Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SICCAS)

Type I clathrates, with compositions based on Ba8Ga16Ge30, are a class of promising thermoelectric materials due to their intrinsically low thermal conductivity. It has been demonstrated previously that the thermoelectric performance can be improved by transition metal substitution of the framework atoms. In this study, the effects of Au substitution for Ga/Ge on thermal and electrical transport properties of type I clathrate compounds have been investigated. Polycrystalline samples with a large range of Au content have been synthesized using conventional solid state techniques with the actual compositions of resulting materials approximately following Zintl-Klemm rules. The charge carrier type changes from electrons (n) to holes (p) as the Au content increases. The Seebeck coefficient (S) and power factor (S2/ where is the electrical resistivity) were improved by Au substitution and the resulting overall thermoelectric properties were enhanced by Au substitution with a thermoelectric figure of merit ZT ~ 0.63 at temperature T = 740 K for the composition Ba8Au5.47Ge39.96. The results presented herein show that Au-containing type I clathrates are promising p-type thermoelectric materials for high temperature applications.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Work for Others (WFO)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1110957
Journal Information:
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 587; ISSN 0925-8388
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English