• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.401-405
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• 2011

Half-heusler phase ZrNiSn is one of the potential thermoelectric materials for high temperature application. In an attempt to investigate the effect of Sb doping on thermoelectric properties, half-heusler phase $ZrNiSn_{1-x}Sb_x$ ($0{\leq}x{\leq}0.08$) was synthesized by mechanical alloying of stoichiometric elemental powder compositions, and consolidated by vacuum hot pressing. Phase transformations during mechanical alloying and hot consolidation were investigated using XRD. Sb doped ZrNiSn was successfully produced in all doping ranges by vacuum hot pressing using as-milled powders without subsequent annealing. Thermoelectric properties as functions of temperature and Sb contents were evaluated for the hot pressed specimens. Sb doping up to x=0.04 in $ZrNiSn_{1-x}Sb_x$ was shown to be effective on thermoelectric properties and the figure of merit (ZT) was shown to reach to the maximum at x=0.02 in this study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2016.11a
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• pp.159-159
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• 2016

세계적으로 대체 에너지는 중요한 이슈가 되고 있으며, 이들 중 열전 재료는 열 에너지를 전기 에너지로 바꿀 수 있는 열전 재료가 각광 받고 있다. 그 중, 박막 형태의 열전 재료는 벌크 형태에 비해 나노 구조화가 용이하여 열전 특성을 향상 시킬 수 있는 잠재력을 지니고 있다. 특히, 박막형 열전 소자는 정밀 온도 제어가 가능하며, 소형화 기기의 응용이 가능하여, 고 직접화 전자 소자의 발열 문제를 해결 할 수 있어 더욱 주목 받고 있다. 박막형 열전소자 중 산화물 반도체계에 대한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있으며, 이러한 산화물 반도체는 기존의 화합물 반도체인 Pb-Te, Bi-Te 등의 기존의 재료에 비해 낮은 독성을 가진다. 또한, 고온에서 열적 안정성이 우수하여 고온에서 적용 가능하다는 장점을 가진다. 열전재료의 효율은 열전 성능 지수(ZT)와 Power factor(PF)로 평가된다.

• 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.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.545-559
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• 1996

Rare metal (Nb-Zr-REE) ore deposits are located in the Chungju area. Geotectonically, the rare metal ore deposits are situated in the transitional zone between Kyeonggi massif and Okcheon belt. The rare metal deposits are distributed in Kyemyeongsan Formation which consist of schist and alkaline igneous rocks. Alkali granite has suffered extensive post-magmatic metasomatism and hydrothermal processes. The ore contains mainly Ce-La, Ta-Nb, Y, Y-Nd, Nd-Th group minerals. More than 15 RE and REE minerals are found in the ore deposits. Allanite, one of the Ce-La rich REE minerals belonging to the epidote group, is the most common mineral in the studied area. The allanite- bearing rocks may be devided into seven types by features of occurrence and mineral associations; zircon type (ZT), allanite-vein type (AT), feldspar type (KT), fluorite type (FT), quartz-mica type (QT), iron-oxide type (MT), and amphibole type (HT). The allanite veins (AT) and zircon rich rocks (ZT) contain the highest total REE contents. Differences in REE abundance can be interpreted in terms of varying portions of magmatic hydrothermal fluid. Petrographical and chemical data are presented for allanites which were collected from different types. The allanites show wide variations in optical properties, due in part to differences in their chemical composition (depending on the types) and to the degree of crystallinity of the individual specimens. Allanite metamicts in biotite are generally surrounded by well developed pleochroic haloes. Usually, allanite is accompanied by zircon and other REE-bearing minerals. CaO and total REE contents $({\sum}RE_2O_3)$ range from 9.29 to 18.79% and 11.66 to 26.31%, respectively. Also, SiO, (28.87~32.61%), $Al_2O_3$ (8.30~16.88%), and $Fc_2O_3$ (16.74~24.38%) contents show varying contents from type to type. The ${\sum}RE_2O_3$ of allanite has positive relationships with $Fe_2O_3$ and negative relaton with CaO, $SiO_2$, and $Al_2O_3$ Backscattered electron microscope images (BEl) of allanite shows that the its mineral composition and texture is very complex. The allanite-bearing hosts show distinct light REE enrichment with strong negative Eu anomaly except for HI. The HT has an almost flat REE distribution pattern with a small negative Eu anomaly. The chemical variation of the allanites with occurrences and mineral association can be related to condition of temperature and oxidation states in precipitation environment.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.10
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• pp.825-829
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• 2015

Theoretical calculations suggest that the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) can be improved by introducing a core-shell heterostructure to a semiconductor nanowire because of the reduced thermal conductivity of the nanowire. To experimentally verify the decrease in thermal conductivity in core-shell nanowires, the thermal conductivity of Ge-SixGe1-x core-shell nanowires grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was measured using suspended microdevices. The silicon composition (Xsi) in the shells was measured to be about 0.65, and the remainder of the germanium in the shells was shown to play a role in decreasing defects originating from the lattice mismatch between the cores and shells. In addition to the standard four-point current- voltage (I-V) measurement, the measurement configuration based on the Wheatstone bridge was attempted to enhance the measurement sensitivity. The measured thermal conductivity values are in the range of 9-13 W/mK at room temperature and are lower by approximately 30 than that of a germanium nanowire with a comparable diameter.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.496-500
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• 2019

In this study, we investigate the effect of an Sb-deficiency on the thermoelectric properties of double-filled n-type skutterudite ($In_{0.05}Yb_{0.15}Co_4Sb_{12-x}$). Samples were prepared by encapsulated induction melting, consecutive long-time annealing, and finally spark plasma sintering processes. The Sb-deficient sample contained a $CoSb_2$ secondary phase. Both the double-filled n-type skutterudite pristine and Sb-deficient samples showed metallic behavior in electrical conductivity with increasing temperature. The carrier concentration of the Sb-deficient sample decreased compared with that of the pristine sample. Due to a decrease in carrier concentration, the Sb deficient sample showed decreased electrical conductivity and an increased Seebeck coefficient compared with the conductivity and coefficient of the pristine sample. Furthermore, the Sb deficient sample showed an increase in the power factor (${\sigma}{\cdot}S^2$); the power factor maximum shifted to athe lower temperature side than ones of the pristine sample. As a result, the Sb-deficient sample represents an improved average figure of merit (ZT) and a $ZT_{max}$ temperature lower than that of the pristine sample. Therefore, we propose that Sb-deficient double-filled n-type skutterudite thermoelectric material ($In_{0.05}Yb_{0.15}Co_4Sb_{12-x}$) be used in the 573~673 K temperature range.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.105-109
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• 2017

The effect of temperature and vanadium metal concentration on the electronic and thermoelectric properties of Si in the diamond cubic structure has been investigated using a combination of density functional theory simulations and the semi classical Boltzmann's theory. The BotzTrap code within the constant relaxation time approximation has been used to obtain the Seebeck coefficient and other transport properties of interest for alloys of the structure $Si_{1-x}V_x$, where x is 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.375, and 0.5. The thermoelectric properties have been extracted for a temperature range of 300 K to 1,000 K. The general trend with V atom substitution for Si causes the Seeback coefficient to increase and the thermal conductivity to decrease for the various alloys. The optimum values are for $Si_5V_3$ and $Si_4V_4$ alloys for charge carrier concentrations of $10^{21}cm^{-3}$ in the mid temperature range of 500~800 K. This is a very desirable effect for a promising thermoelectric and the figure of merit ZT approaches 0.2 at 600 K for the p-type $Si_5V_3$ alloy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.112-112
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• 2016

열전 발전은 버려지는 폐열을 재사용 가능한 에너지로 전환할 수 있다는 점에서 차세대 청정 에너지원으로 분류되며, 19세기 초 발견된 이래 꾸준히 연구되어온 연구 분야이다. 특히 1990년대 열전소재로의 나노 기술의 접목에 따라 열전성능(figure of merit, ZT)이 2 배 이상 증가 되면서, 고성능의 열전 소재 개발을 위해 나노구조화 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 하지만, 기존의 열전 특성 측정용 상용 장비의 경우, 벌크형 소재를 대상으로 설계되어 연구실 수준에서 개발되고 있는 마이크로미터 스케일의 두께를 가지는 박막형 열전 소재의 두께 방향 (cross-plane)의 열전 특성을 평가하는데 정밀성이 떨어져서 적합하지 않다. 이러한 표준화된 측정 기술의 부재로 인하여 최근 연구되고 있는 나노소재들의 열전 특성 측정 결과를 정확하게 측정하지 못하고 있다 [1] 본 연구에서는 박막형 열전 소재의 열전성능을 평가하는데 가장 중요한 요소인 열전도도를 측정하기 위해 장비를 설계하고, 장비의 측정 능력에 대해 평가하였다. 특히, 측정 포인트 간 큰 온도 차가 발생하여 비교적 쉽게 측정이 가능한 너비 방향 (in-plane) 이 아닌, 온도 차가 작은 박막의 두께 방향의 열전도도를 측정하였다. 그리고 센서의 측정 능력을 평가하기 위해, 폴리이미드를 대상으로 $-10-70^{\circ}C$ 온도 범위에서 측정한 결과와 벌크형 소재 대상으로 신뢰성이 확보된 보호열판법을 이용해 측정한 결과를 비교하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.416-427
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• 1998

Unidirectional commingled-yarn-based carbon fiber(CF)/polyamide(PA) 6 composite was fabricated under molding pressures of 0.4, 0.6 and 1.0 MPa to study its flexural deformation and fracture behavior. Fiber/matrix interfacial bonding area became larger with an increase of molding pressure from 0.4 to 0.6 MPa. For molding pressures .geq. 0.6 MPa, good flexural performance of similar magnitudes was attained. For the fracture test, four kinds of notch direction were adopted : edgewise notches parallel (L) and transverse (T) to the major direction of fiber bundles, and flatwise notches parallel(ZL) and perpendicular(ZT) to this direction. Nominal bend strength for L and ZL specimens exhibited high sensitivity to notching. ZL specimens revealed the lowest values of the critical stress intensity factor $K_c$ which was slightly superior to those of unfilled PA6 matrix. Enlargement of the compression area for T specimens was analyzed by means of the rigidity reduction resulting from the fracture occurrence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.143-144
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• 2006

Thermoelectric properties of $Sr_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Ba_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ clathrates were investigated in the temperature range between 323K and 923K. Both clathrates were fabricated by the arc-melting method. Homogeneous single phases were observed in the annealed clathrates. Electrical resistivities for both clathrates were increased as the temperature increased up to 823K. The sign of the Seebeck coefficients for both clathrates was negative, which means that the major carriers were electrons. The maximum values of ZT for $Sr_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Ba_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ were 0.86 at 773K and 0.76 at 923K, respectively.