• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.189-194
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• 2013

Single phase crystalline powders of $Mg_3Sb_2$ and $Mg_3Bi_2$ were prepared by mechanical alloying Mg, Sb and Bi metals with planetary ball milling for 24~48 h. The compositions of starting raw materials for single phase $Mg_3Sb_2$ and $Mg_3Bi_2$ were 3Mg : 1.8Sb and 3Mg : 1.6Bi, respectively. Two types of mechanically alloyed powders obtained were mixed at some ratios for the fabrication of $Mg_3Sb_2-Mg_3Bi_2$ composites and then hot pressed under uniaxial pressure of 70 MPa at 723 K for 1 h. The main phase of composites was a stable phase similar to $Mg_3Bi_2$ phase with a small amount of Bi phase. The distributions of Sb and Bi elements on EDS mapping images were discontinuous and their compositional contours were clear, which means that the hot pressed specimens were composites composed of two compounds of $Mg_3Sb_2$ and $Mg_3Bi_2$.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.207-212
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• 2012

A single phase $Mg_3Sb_2$ alloy was synthesized by melting the mixture of Mg and Sb metal powders at 1173 K. The figure of merit of the $Mg_3Sb_2$ prepared by melting method increased with temperature and showed a value of $2.39{\times}10^{-2}$ at 593 K. When the $Mg_3Sb_2$ powders were milled at high speed in a planetary ball mill for 12~48 h, Zintle phase ($Mg_3Sb_2$) was maintained as a main phase, but its crystallinity became deteriorated and elemental Sb phase appeared. Sb phase free $Mg_3Sb_2$ could be obtained by the mechanical alloying of high speed ball milling for 24 h using elemental Mg and Sb powder mixtures.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.176-182
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• 2014

We intended to prepare $Mg_3Sb_2$ compound bodies through solid state reactive sintering after cold-pressing mixtures of elementary Mg and Sb powders and investigated the crystal phases of the sintered bodies according to Mg/Sb mole ratios and reaction temperatures. The $Mg_3Sb_2$ bodies sintered at the temperatures of 773~843 K showed typical crystalline phases of $Mg_3Sb_2$ compounds, but their diffraction angles in XRD patterns were slightly different along with the vertical axis of the bodies obtained. All the bottom parts of the sintered $Mg_3Sb_2$ bodies were composed of the typical crystalline phases of $Mg_3Sb_2$ compounds and their diffraction angles were completely in accord with those of the ${\alpha}-Mg_3Sb_2$ phase, when Mg : Sb = 3.15 : 1.85 at 823 K, or when the Mg moles were greater than or equal to 3.10 at 843 K. It was considered that the slightly remaining Mg phases were formed by precipitation from ${\alpha}-Mg_3Sb_2$ phases during the solidification process of liquid phase.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2013

$Mg_{3-x}Zn_xSb_2$ powders with x = 0-1.2 were fabricated by mechanical alloying in a planetary ball mill with a speed of 350 rpm for 24 hrs and then hot pressed under a pressure of 70 MPa at 773 K for 2 hrs. It was found that there were systematic shifts in the X-ray diffraction peaks of $Mg_3Sb_2$ (x = 0) toward a higher angle with increasing Zn for both the powder and the bulk sample and finally the phase of $Mg_{1.86}Zn_{1.14}Sb_2$ was formed at the Zn content of x = 1.2. The $Mg_{3-x}Zn_xSb_2$ compounds had nano-sized grains of 21-30 nm for the powder and 28-66 nm for the hot pressed specimens. The electrical conductivity of hot pressed $Mg_{3-x}Zn_xSb_2$ increased with increasing Zn content and temperature from 33 $Sm^{-1}$ for x = 0 to 13,026 $Sm^{-1}$ for x = 1.2 at 323 K. The samples for all the compositions from x = 0 to x = 1.2 had positive Seebeck coefficients, which decreased with increasing Zn content and temperature, which resulted from the increased charge carrier concentration. Most of the samples had relatively low thermal conductivities comparable to the high performance thermoelectric materials. The dimensionless figure of merit of $Mg_{3-x}Zn_xSb_2$ was directly proportional to the Zn content except for the compound with Zn = 1.2 at high temperature. The $Mg_{3-x}Zn_xSb_2$ compound with Zn = 0.8 had the largest value of ZT, 0.33 at 723 K.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.68-74
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• 2015

The porous $Mg_3Sb_2$ based compounds with 60~70% of relative density were prepared by powder compaction at room temperature and reactive liquid phase sintering at 1023 K for 4hrs. The stoichiometric $Mg_3Sb_2$ compounds were synthesized from elemental Sb and Mg powder in the mixing range of 61~63 at% Mg. The increased scattering effect due to the micro-pores reduced the mobility of the charge carrier and the phonon, which caused the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity to decrease, respectively. But the scattering effect was greater for the electrical conductivity than for the thermal conductivity. Excess Mg alloyed in the $Mg_3Sb_2$ compounds decreased the electrical conductivity, but had no effect on the thermal conductivity. On the other hand, the large increase of the Seebeck coefficient was the result of a decrease in the charge carrier density due to the excess Mg. Dimensionless figure of merit of the porous $Mg_3Sb_2$ compound reached a maximum value of 0.28 at 61 at% Mg. The obtained value was similar to that of $Mg_3Sb_2$ compounds having little pores.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.132-138
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• 2022

Zintl phase Mg₃Sb₂ is a promising thermoelectric material in medium to high temperature range due to its low band gap energy and characteristic electron-crystal phonon-glass behavior. P-type Mg₃Sb₂ has conventionally exhibited lower thermoelectric properties compared to its n-type counterparts, which have poor electrical conductivity. To address these problems, a small amount of Sn doping was considered in this alloy system. P-type Mg₃Sb₂ was synthesized by controlled melting, pulverizing, and subsequent vacuum hot pressing (VHP) method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate phases and microstructure development during the process. Single phase Mg₃Sb₂ was successfully formed when 16 at.% of Mg was excessively added to the system. Nominal compositions of Mg_3.8Sb_2-xSn_x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.008) were considered in this study. Thermoelectric properties were evaluated in terms of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity. A peak ZT value ≈ 0.32 was found for the specimen Mg_3.8Sb_1.994Sn_0.006 at 873 K, showing an improved ZT value compared to intrinsic one. Transport properties were also evaluated and discussed.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.445-449
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• 2021

Zintl compound Mg₃Sb₂ is a promising candidate for efficient thermoelectric material due to its small band gap energy and characteristic electron-crystal phonon-glass behavior. Furthermore, this compound enables fine tuning of carrier concentration via chemical doping for optimizing thermoelectric performance. In this study, nominal compositions of Mg_3.8Sb_2-xTe_x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03) are synthesized through controlled melting and subsequent vacuum hot pressing method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are carried out to investigate phase development and surface morphology during the process. It should be noted that 16 at. % of excessive Mg must be added to the system to compensate for the loss of Mg during melting process. Herein, thermoelectric properties such as Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity are evaluated from low to high temperature regimes. The results show that Te substitution at Sb sites effectively tunes the majority carriers from holes to electrons, resulting in a transition from p to n-type. At 873 K, a peak ZT value of 0.27 is found for the specimen Mg_3.8Sb_1.99Te_0.01, indicating an improved ZT value over the intrinsic value.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.661-661
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• 2013

열전재료는 열-전기가 상호 가역적으로 변하는 재료로서, 에너지 변환소재 분야에서 널리 각광받고 있다. 열전재료의 성능은 무차원 열전성능지수(dimensionless figure of merit, $ZT={\alpha}^2{\sigma}T/{\kappa}$)로 평가된다. 여기서 ${\alpha}$는 제벡계수(Seebeck coefficient), ${\sigma}$는 전기전도도(electrical conductivity), ${\kappa}$는 열전도도(thermal conductivity), T는 Kelvin 온도를 나타낸다. 500 K에서 800 K까지의 중온 영역에서 우수한 열전특성을 보이는 $Mg_2X$ (X=Si, Ge, Sn)와 이들의 고용체는 성분원소가 독성이 없고, 매장량이 많아 친환경 열전재료로 각광받고 있다. $Mg_2X$ 고용체 중 $Mg_2Si-Mg_2Sn$ 고용체는 Si와 Sn의 큰 원자량 차이로 인해 낮은 열전도도와 높은 성능지수(ZT)를 얻을 것이라 예상되며 열전발전 소자로서의 응용이 기대된다. Sb가 도핑된 $Mg_{2+x}Si_{0.7}Sn_{0.3}Sb_y$ (x=0, 0.1, 0.2, y=0, 0.01) 고용체를 고상합성과 기계적 합금화로 합성한 후, 진공 열간압축 성형을 통해 성공적으로 제조하였다. X선 회절분석으로 상합성과 고용체 형성 여부를 확인하였고, Mg의 과잉첨가와 Sb 도핑에 따른 열전특성의 변화를 조사하였다.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.82-82
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• 1998

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 1993

A FET(field effect transistor) type lipid sensor was fabricated uy immobilizing lipase enzyme on the gate of pH-ISFET($SiO_{2}/Si_{3}N_{4}$). A water soluble polymer, polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) was modified with 1-methyl-4-(formyl-styryl) pyridinium methosulfate(SbQ) to give a photosensitive membrane(PVA-SbQ) in which lipase was immobilized. The optimum photolithographic conditions were ; spin coating speed $5,000{\sim}6,000$ rpm. UV exposure time $20{\sim}30$ seconds, developing time in water $30{\sim}40$ seconds, and vacuum drying time 45 min. at room temperature with the suspension containing PVA-SbQ aqueous solution(SbQ 1mol%, 10 wt %) $200{\mu}L$, bovine serum albumin (BSA) 7.5 mg, and lipase 10 mg. The lipid sensor showed good linear calibration curve in the range of $10{\sim}100$ mM triacetin as a lipid sample.