Thermoelectric Properties of Sb-doped Sintered Mg2Si Fabricated using Commercial Polycrystalline Sources

Abstract

AbstractThe thermoelectric (TE) properties, such as the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical and thermal conductivities, and the output power, of Sb-doped n-type Mg2Si were studied. A commercial polycrystalline source was used for the source material for the Mg2Si. TE elements with Ni electrodes were fabricated by using a monobloc plasma-activated sintering (PAS) technique. Compared with undoped samples, the ZT values of the Sb-doped samples were higher over the whole temperature range in which measurements were made; the maximum value for the Sb doped Mg2Si was 0.72 at 864 K. The TE characteristics of Sb-doped samples were found to be comparable to those of Bi-doped ones, and no significant difference in ZT value was observed between them. Provisional results showed that the maximum value of the output power was 6.75 mW for the undoped sample, 4.55 mW for a 0.5 at% Sb doped sample, and 5.25 mW for a 1 at% Sb doped sample with ΔT = 500 K (between 873 K and 373 K).