Enhancement of thermoelectric figure of merit in β-Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} by indium doping control
- Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan (China)
- Department of Physics, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li 32023, Taiwan (China)
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsin-Chu 30076, Taiwan (China)
- Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)
- Department of Physics, Tamkang University, Tamsui 25137, Taiwan (China)
- Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China)
We demonstrate the control of phase composition in Bridgman-grown β-Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} crystals by indium doping, an effective way to overcome the difficulty of growing very pure β-Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} thermoelectric material. The crystal structures are characterized by Rietveld refinement with synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. The results show an anisotropic lattice expansion in In-doped β-Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} wherein the zinc atoms are partially substituted by indium ones at 36f site of R-3c symmetry. Through the elimination of ZnSb phase, all the three individual thermoelectric properties are simultaneously improved, i.e., increasing electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient while reducing thermal conductivity. Under an optimal In concentration (x = 0.05), pure phase β-Zn{sub 4}Sb{sub 3} crystal can be obtained, which possesses a high figure of merit (ZT) of 1.4 at 700 K.
- OSTI ID:
- 22482152
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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