• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.582-588
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• 2019

FeVSb1-xTex (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) half-Heusler alloys were fabricated by mechanical alloying process and subsequent vacuum hot pressing. Near single half-Heusler phases are formed in vacuum hot pressed samples but a second phase of FeSb2 couldn't be avoided. After doping, the lattice thermal conductivity in the system was shown to decrease with increasing Te concentration and with increasing temperature. The lowest thermal conductivity was achieved for FeVSb0.94Te0.06 sample at about 657 K. This considerable reduction of thermal conductivities is attributed to the increased phonon scattering enhanced by defect structure, which is formed by doping of Te at Sb site. The phonon scattering might also increase at grain boundaries due to the formation of fine grain structure. The Seebeck coefficient increased considerably as well, consequently optimizing the thermoelectric figure of merit to a peak value of ~0.24 for FeVSb0.94Te0.06. Thermoelectric properties of various Te concentrations were investigated in the temperature range of around 300~973 K.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.254-259
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• 2015

$Bi_2Te_3$ related compounds show the best thermoelectric properties at room temperature. However, n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ showed no improvement on ZT values. To improve the thermolectric propterties of n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$, this research has Cu-doped n-type powder. This study focused on effects of Cu-doping method on the thermoelectric properties of n-type materials, and evaluated the comparison between the Cu chemical and mechanical doping. The synthesized powder was manufactured by the spark plasma sintering(SPS). The thermoelectric properties of the sintered body were evaluated by measuring their Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and hall coefficient. An introduction of a small amount of Cu reduced the thermal conductivity and improved the electrical properties with Seebeck coefficient. The authors provided the optimal concentration of $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.99}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$. A figure of merit (ZT) value of 1.22 was obtained for $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.9}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ at 373K by Cu chemical doping, which was obviously higher than those of $Cu_{0.1}Bi_{1.9}Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ at 373K by Cu mechanical doping (ZT=0.56) and Cu-free $Bi_2Se_{0.3}Te_{2.7}$ (ZT=0.51).