• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2009.04b
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• pp.47-47
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• 2009

The formation of variable one-dimensional structures including core/shell structure is of particular significance with respect to potential applications for thermoelectric devices with the enhanced figure of merit ($ZT=S2{\sigma}T/{\kappa}$). We report the fabrication of Bi-Te core/shell nanowire based on a novel stress induced method. Fig. 1 schematically shows the nanowire fabrication process. Bi nanowires are grown on the Si substrate by the stress-induced method, and then Te is evaporated on the Bi nanowires. Fig. 2 is a transmission electron microscopy image clearly showing a core/shell structure for which effective phonon scattering and quantum confinement effect are expected. Electrical conductivity of the core/shell nanowire was measured at the temperatures from 4K to 300K, respectively. Our results demonstrate that Bi-Te core/shell nanowire can be grown successfully by the stress-induced method. Based on the result of electrical transport measurement and characteristic morphology of rough surface, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity of Bi-Te core/shell nanowires are presented.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2017

We fabricate fine (<$20{\mu}m$) powders of $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_3$ alloys using a large-scale production method and subsequently consolidate them at temperatures of 573, 623, and 673 K using a spark plasma sintering process. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and thermoelectric properties are investigated for each sintering temperature. The microstructural features of both the powders and bulks are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and the crystal structures are analyzed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The grain size increases with increasing sintering temperature from 573 to 673 K. In addition, the mechanical properties increase significantly with decreasing sintering temperature owing to an increase in grain boundaries. The results indicate that the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient ($217{\mu}V/K$) of the sample sintered at 673 K increase simultaneously owing to decreased carrier concentration and increased mobility. As a result, a high ZT value of 0.92 at 300 K is achieved. According to the results, a sintering temperature of 673 K is preferable for consolidation of fine (<$20{\mu}m$) powders.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.127-127
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• 2018

열전변환기술은 폐열을 전기로 변환하는 제벡효과를 이용한 기술이다. 열전변환효율은 재료의 성능에 따라 결정되며 성능지수 $ZT=S^2{\sigma}T/k$로 표현할 수 있다. 여기서 S는 제벡계수, ${\sigma}$는 전기전도도, k는 열전도도, T는 절대온도이다. GeTe계 열전재료는 $200{\sim}500^{\circ}C$에서 쓰이는 중온용 열전재료이다. 높은 성능지수를 가지기 위해서는 파워펙터($S2{\sigma}$)의 향상과 열전도도의 감소가 필요하다. GeTe계 화합물은 Ge의 공공 때문에 높은 캐리어 농도를 가지게 되고, 이로 인해 낮은 제벡계수 값과 높은 열전도도를 가지게 된다. 따라서 GeTe계 화합물의 성능 향상을 위해서는 캐리어농도 제어가 필수적이다. TEM을 통하여 GeTe를 관찰하면 밝고 어두운 콘트라스트들이 형성되어 있는 헤링본구조를 확인 할 수 있다. 콘트라스트를 보여주는 작은 평행사변형 하나는 헤링본구조의 가장 작은 단위인 도메인이며 이 도메인들이 특정한 방향으로 배열되어 콜로니를 형성하고 콜로니들이 특정한 방향으로 배열되어 헤링본구조를 이룬다. 헤링본의 폭과 길이를 제어 할 수 있다면 GeTe계 화합물의 열전특성 향상에 영향을 미칠 수 있을 것으로 예상된다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 GeTe계 화합물내에 도핑원소 첨가를 통한 캐리어 농도제어와 도핑원소 첨가에 따른 헤링본구조의 변화에 관하여 연구하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.53-53
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• 2018

Thermoelectric materials can convert directly waste heat to electricity and vice versa. The improvement of the thermoelectric efficiency strongly depends on the dimensionless figure of merit, $ZT=S^2{\sigma}T/{\kappa}$, where S is the Seebeck coefficient, ${\sigma}$ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and ${\kappa}$ is the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity consists of the electronic contribution (${\kappa}_e$) and phonon contribution (${\kappa}_{ph}$). It is very challenge to increase the power factor, $S^2{\sigma}$ and to reduce the thermal conductivity simultaneously because the power factor and electronic thermal conductivity are coupled. One strategy is to decrease the phonon thermal conductivity. The phonon thermal conductivity can be decreased by controlling the grain size and structural defects such as dislocations and twinning. In order to achieve enhancements in thermoelectric efficiency, microstructures that can form numerous interfaces have been investigated intensively for controlling the transport of charge carriers and heat carrying phonons. In this presentation, we report the heterogeneous microstructure of $Mg_2Si_{0.6}Sn_{0.4}$ thermoelectric materials and investigation of its influence on thermoelectric properties.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.377-381
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• 2006

Skutterudite $CoSb_3$ doped with nickel was prepared by encapsulated induction melting, and its doping effects on thermoelectric properties were investigated. Single phase ${\delta}-CoSb_3$ was successfully obtained by encapsulated induction melting and subsequent heat treatment at 773 K for 24 h. Nickel atoms acted as electron donors by substituting cobalt atoms. Thermoelectric properties were remarkably improved by appropriate heat treatment and doping, and they were closely related to phase transitions and dopant activation. The maximum ZT(dimensionless figure of merit) was achieved as 0.2 at 600 K for the $Co_{0.93}Ni_{0.07}Sb_3$ specimen.

• Proceedings of the Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute Conference
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• 2006.09a
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• pp.665-666
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• 2006

Undoped $CoSb_3$ powders were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) of elemental powders using a nominal stoichiometric composition. Nano-structured, single-phase skutterudite $CoSb_3$ was successfully produced by vacuum hot pressing (VHP) using MA powders without subsequent annealing. Phase transformations during synthesis were investigated using XRD, and microstructure was observed using SEM and TEM. Thermoelectric properties in terms of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and figure of merit(ZT) were systematically measured and compared with the results of analogous studies. Lattice thermal conductivity was reduced owing to increasing phone scattering in nano-structured MA $CoSb_3$, leading to enhancement in the thermoelectric figure of merit. MA associated with VHP technique offers an alternative potential processing route for the process of skutterudite.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.56 no.11
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• pp.822-828
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• 2018

P-type Ce/Yb-filled skutterudites were synthesized, and their charge transport and thermoelectric properties were investigated with partial double filling and charge compensation. In the case of $(Ce_{1-z}Yb_z)_{0.8}Fe_4Sb_{12}$ without Co substitution, the marcasite ($FeSb_2$) phase formed alongside the skutterudite phase, but the generation of the marcasite phase was inhibited by increasing Co concentration. The electrical conductivity decreased with increasing temperature, exhibiting degenerate semiconductor behavior. The Hall and Seebeck coefficients were positive, which confirmed that the specimens were p-type semiconductors with holes as the major carriers. The carrier concentration decreased as the concentration of Ce and Co increased, which led to decreased electrical conductivity and increased Seebeck coefficient. The thermal conductivity decreased due to a reduction in electronic thermal conductivity via Co substitution, and due to decreased lattice thermal conductivity via double filling of Ce and Yb. $(Ce_{0.25}Yb_{0.75})_{0.8}Fe_{3.5}Co_{0.5}Sb_{12}$ exhibited the greatest dimensionless figure of merit (ZT = 0.66 at 823 K).

• Current Applied Physics
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1534-1539
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• 2018

SnSe single crystal showed a high thermoelectric zT of 2.6 at 923 K mainly due to an extremely low thermal conductivity $0.23W\;m^{-1}\;K^{-1}$. It has anisotropic crystal structure resulting in deterioration of thermoelectric performance in polycrystalline SnSe, providing a low zT of 0.6 and 0.8 for Ag and Na-doped SnSe, respectively. Here, we presented the thermoelectric properties on the K-doped $K_xSn_{1-x}Se$ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.5, and 2.0%) polycrystals, synthesized by a high-temperature melting and hot-press sintering with annealing process. The K-doping in SnSe efficiently enhances the hole carrier concentration without significant degradation of carrier mobility. We find that there exist widespread Se-rich precipitates, inducing strong phonon scattering and thus resulting in a very low thermal conductivity. Due to low thermal conductivity and moderate power factor, the $K_{0.001}Sn_{0.999}Se$ sample shows an exceptionally high zT of 1.11 at 823 K which is significantly enhanced value in polycrystalline compounds.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.135-142
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• 2018

In this study, we have fabricated n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.85}Se_{0.15}$ compounds by different processing routes such as crushing, milling and mixing respectively. Subsequently, the obtained powders were consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The phase crystallinity of bulk samples were identified using X-ray diffraction technique. Powder morphology and fracture surface of bulk samples were observed using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity values were significantly increased for the milling sample than crushing and mixing samples. As a result, the maximum power factor was obtained $2.4mW/mK^2$, which is thrice than that of crushing process. The maximum figure of merit (ZT) of 0.77 was achieved at 400 K for the milling sample. Furthermore, relatively high hardness and density values were noticed for the different processed samples.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.126-134
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• 2018

In this research, we produced polycrystalline n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ powder using water atomization. To obtain full benefit through water atomized powder, we have implemented spark plasma sintering and hot extrusion for powder compaction. The microstructure and thermoelectric properties were investigated and compared. The average grain size of SPS and extruded bulks were 3.08 and $3.86{\mu}m$ respectively. The extruded material microstructure contains layered grains with less grain boundaries and its counter-part SPS displays dense packed grains with high grain boundaries. Among both bulks, extrusion sample exhibited high power factor (PF) of $2.96{\times}10^{-3}Wm^{-1}K^{-2}$ which is 38% higher than SPS ($2.14{\times}10^{-3}$) bulk sample. Due to variations in grain size and grain boundaries, the SPS bulk shows low thermal conductivity than extruded bulk. However, the extruded bulk sample exhibited a peak ZT of 0.69 at 400 K, which is 19% higher than SPS bulk sample, due to its higher power factor.