One-pot fabrication of Ag–SrTiO3 nanocomposite and its enhanced thermoelectric properties

Abstract

Abstract Ag–SrTiO3 ceramic nanoparticles were fabricated by doping SrTiO3 with various contents (0.5, 1, 3, and 5%, in mass ratio) of Ag. Composite samples were prepared through a one-pot solvothermal method and sintering process. The temperature-dependent thermoelectric properties of these sample were measured from 300 K to 500 K. The maximum power factor (843.3 μ·W/m·K2) at 500 K, which is ∼3.96 times higher than that of the pristine SrTiO3 ceramics, was obtained for the Ag–SrTiO3 composite sample with 1% of Ag. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the composites decreased due to the phonon scattering effect. The maximum thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT), i.e., ∼0.09, which was achieved with 1% of Ag at 500 K, yielded an enhanced power factor and a reduced thermal conductivity. This ZT value was ∼4.27 times larger than that of pristine SrTiO3 at the same temperature.