• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.280-284
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• 2012

Bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric materials were successfully prepared by a spark plasma sintering process. Crystalline BiSbTe ingots were crushed into small pieces and then attrition milled into fine powders of about 300 nm ~ 2${\mu}m$ size under argon gas. Spark plasma sintering was applied on the BiSbTe powders at 240, 320, and $380^{\circ}C$, respectively, under a pressure of 40 MPa in vacuum. The heating rate was $50^{\circ}C$/min and the holding time at the sintering temperature was 10 min. At all sintering temperatures, high density bulk BiSbTe was successfully obtained. The XRD patterns verify that all samples were well matched with the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_{3}$. Seebeck coefficient (S), electric conductivity (${\sigma}$) and thermal conductivity (k) were evaluated in a temperature range of $25{\sim}300^{\circ}C$. The thermoelectric properties of BiSbTe were evaluated by the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT (ZT = $S^2{\sigma}T$/k). The grain size and electric conductivity of sintered BiSbTe increased as the sintering temperature increased but the thermal conductivity was similar at all sintering temperatures. Grain growth reduced the carrier concentration, because grain growth reduced the grain boundaries, which serve as acceptors. Meanwhile, the carrier mobility was greatly increased and the electric conductivity was also improved. Consequentially, the grains grew with increasing sintering temperature and the figure of merit was improved.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.119-125
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• 2024

The n-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃ compounds have been of great interest due to its potential to achieve a high thermoelectric performance, comparable to that of p-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃. However, a comprehensive understanding on the thermoelectric properties remains lacking. Here, we investigate the thermoelectric transport properties and band characteristics of n-type Bi_2-xSb_xTe₃ (x = 0.1 - 1.1) based on experimental and theoretical considerations. We find that the higher power factor at lower Sb content results from the optimized balance between the density of state effective mass and nondegenerate mobility. Additionally, a higher carrier concentration at lower x suppresses bipolar conduction, thereby reducing thermal conductivity at elevated temperatures. Consequently, the highest zT of ~ 0.5 is observed at 450 K for x = 0.1 and, according to the single parabolic band model, it could be further improved by ~70 % through carrier concentration tuning.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.234-238
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• 2009

We have investigated the effects of dopant on the thermoelectric properties that $La_{(1-x)}M_xCoO_3$(M=Sr, Ca;x=0, 0.1) bulk ceramics fabricated by the conventional solid state reaction method. The Seebeck coefficient of $La_{(1-x)}M_xCoO_3$(M=Sr, Ca;x=0, 0.1) bulk ceramics was measured at wide temperature range from 300 K to 673 K. The thermoelectric properties(Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity) depend strongly on the kinds of dopants. Sr and Ca dopant decrease the Seebeck coefficient. Density of sintered $La_{0.9}Sr_{0.1}CoO_3$ ceramic at 1523 K was 7.12 $g/cm^2$ and Seebeck coefficient was 35 ${\mu}V/K$ at 663 K. However, the electrical resistivity of the Sr doped sample was low and stable.

• 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 KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1459-1462
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• 2007

In general a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) consists of a series of P type and N type thermoelectric materials sandwiched between two wafers. When a DC current passes through these materials, three different effects take place; Peltier effect, Joule heating effect and heat transfer by conduction due to temperature difference between hot and cold plates. In this study we have developed a micro TEC using $Bi_2Te_3$ (N type) and $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ (P type) thin films. In order to improve that performance of a micro TEC, we made 10 um height TE legs using special PR only for lift-off. We measured COP (coefficient of performance) and temperature difference between hot and cold connectors with current.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.459-460
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• 2006

N-type $Bi_2Te_3-Sb_2Te_3$ solid solutions doped with 1$CdCl_2$ was prepared by melt spinning, crushing and vacuum sintering processes. Microstructure, bending strength and thermoelectric property were investigated as a function of the doping quantity from 0.03wt.% to 0.10wt.% and sintering temperature from $400^{\circ}C$ to $500^{\circ}C$, and finally compared with those of conventionally fabricated alloys. The alloy showed a good structural homogeneity as well as bending strength of $3.88Kgf/mm^2$. The highest thermoelectric figure of merit was obtained by doping 0.03wt.% and sintering at $500^{\circ}C$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.682-683
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• 2006

Thermoelectric conversion efficiency of thermoelectric elements can be increased by using a structure combining n-type and p-type semiconductors. From the above point of view, attention was directed at ZnO as a candidate n-type semiconductor material and investigations were made. As the result, a dimensionless figure of merit ZT close to 0.28 (1073K) was obtained for specimens produced by the PCS (Pulse Current Sintering) method with addition of specified quantities of $TiO_2$, CoO, and $Al_2O_3$ to ZnO. It was found that the interstitial $TiO_2$ in the ZnO restrains the grain growth and CoO acts onto the bond between grains. The influence of the inclusion of $TiO_2$ and CoO onto the sintering behavior also was investigated.

• Advances in materials Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.171-187
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• 2020

The microstructural evolution of different compositions of Mg-Sn alloys (30%Sn-70%Mg, 40%Sn-60%Mg and 50%Sn-50%Mg) is studied at first to understand the changes observed with change in tin content and deformation conditions. The Mg₂Sn phase increases with increase in tin content and a significant substructure development is found in 50%Sn-50%Mg alloy. The above observation led to further deformation studies on Mg₂Sn based thermoelectric materials with higher tin percentage. The microstructure in terms of Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)measurements is studied in detail followed by the determination of thermoelectric properties i.e., Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity for both as cast and extruded Mg_(2+x)Sn-Ag alloys. The electrical conductivity of the extruded Mg_(2+x)Sn-.3wt%Ag {x =1} alloy was found to be more than its as cast counterpart while the Seebeck coefficient values remained almost the same.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.539-551
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• 2017

A mathematical model of electro-thermoelasticity has been constructed in the context of a new consideration of heat conduction with memory-dependent derivative. The governing coupled equations with time-delay and kernel function, which can be chosen freely according to the necessity of applications, are applied to several concrete problems. The exact solutions for all fields are obtained in the Laplace transform domain for each problem. According to the numerical results and its graphs, conclusion about the proposed model has been constructed. The predictions of the theory are discussed and compared with dynamic classical coupled theory. The result provides a motivation to investigate conducting thermoelectric viscoelastic materials as a new class of applicable materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.75-76
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• 2006

New PM route via bulk mechanical alloying is developed to fabricate the solid solution semi-conductive materials with $Mg_2Si_{1-x}Ge_x$ and $Mg_2Si_{1-y}Sn_y$ for 0 < x, y < 1 and to investigate their thermoelectric materials. Since $Mg_2Si$ is n-type and both $Mg_2Ge$ and $Mg_2Sn$ are p-type, pn-transition takes place at the specified range of germanium content, x, and tin content, y. Through optimization of chemical composition, solid-solution type thermoelectric semi-conductive materials are designed both for n-and p-type materials.