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Title: Improvement of thermoelectric properties of alkaline-earth hexaborides

Journal Article · · Journal of Solid State Chemistry
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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka, Nagaoka 940-2188 (Japan)

Thermoelectric (TE) and transport properties of alkaline-earth hexaborides were examined to investigate the possibility of improvement in their TE performance. As carrier concentration increased, electrical conductivity increased and the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient decreased monotonically, while carrier mobility was almost unchanged. These results suggest that the electrical properties of the hexaboride depend largely on carrier concentration. Thermal conductivity of the hexaboride was higher than 10 W/m K even at 1073 K, which is relatively high among TE materials. Alloys of CaB{sub 6} and SrB{sub 6} were prepared in order to reduce lattice thermal conductivity. Whereas the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the alloys were intermediate between those of CaB{sub 6} and SrB{sub 6} single phases, the thermal conductivities of the alloys were lower than those of both single phases. The highest TE performance was obtained in the vicinity of Ca{sub 0.5}Sr{sub 0.5}B{sub 6}, indicating that alloying is effective in improving the performance. - Graphical abstract: Thermoelectric figure-of-merit, ZT, for (Ca,Sr)B{sub 6} alloys. The highest ZT value of 0.35 at 1073 K was obtained due to effective reduction of thermal conductivity by alloying.

OSTI ID:
20905445
Journal Information:
Journal of Solid State Chemistry, Vol. 179, Issue 9; Conference: 15. international symposium on boron, borides and related compounds, Hamburg (Germany), 21-26 Aug 2005; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2006.01.025; PII: S0022-4596(06)00029-6; Copyright (c) 2006 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0022-4596
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English