Preparation and Thermoelectric Properties of YbAl3 Thermoelectric Materials with Excessive Al

Abstract

A method to prepare YbAl3 sample with an accurate stoichiometric ratio has been developed by a melting, quenching, annealing and spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. A series of YbAl3 thermoelectric materials with nominal compositions YbAl3+x (x = 0–0.3, Δx = 0.1) have been prepared using the method. We have explored the effects of the excessive Al on phase compositions, microstructure and transport properties. The quenched samples are composed of YbAl3, YbAl2, Yb, and Al. All the annealed samples are composed of main phase YbAl3 and a trace of Al; some annealed samples with x = 0 and x = 0.1 still contain a trace of YbAl2. The SPSed samples with x ≥ 0.1 are composed of single-phase YbAl3, though a trace of YbAl2 still occured in the SPSed sample with x = 0. The electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, power factor, thermal conductivity and ZT values are first increased with increasing x in the range of 0–0.2 and then decreased when x > 0.2. These thermoelectric properties evolutions originate from the change of densities and chemical composition induced by the excessive Al. The highest ZT value reaches 0.28 at 300 K for the SPSed sample with x = 0.2.