Abstract
The improvement of thermoelectric properties of p-type iron-based skutterudites is limited due to the present of more iron-rich impurity phases induced by the inherent structural instability of Fe-containing skutterudites. How to reduce the content of the impurity phase in p-type Fe-based skutterudites is a key to obtain high ZT value. Ce1.25Fe4Sb12 materials with different sintering temperatures (723 K, 773 K, 798 K, 823 K and 848 K) have been prepared by a traditional melting-quenching-annealing process coupled with spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The results of XRD and EPMA analysis indicate that all the SPSed samples consist of the main skutterudite phase and impurity phases of FeSb2, Sb, CeSb2 and oxides of Ce and Sb. Compared with other SPSed samples, the SPS-773 K sample has the best thermoelectric properties due to the relatively fewer impurity phases, a large number of micro-nanoscale particles at the grain boundary and more voids. The SPS-773 K sample shows the largest ZT value over the entire test temperature range due to the higher power factor and lower lattice thermal conductivity. The maximum ZT value reaches 0.81 at 800 K. This indicates that thermoelectric properties of Ce-filled Fe4Sb12 skutterudite materials can be effectively improved by reducing impurity phases induced by the optimization of the sintering temperature.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.