Effect of ZnO and SnO2 Nanolayers at Grain Boundaries on Thermoelectric Properties of Polycrystalline Skutterudites
Open Access
- 15 November 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Nanomaterials
- Vol. 10 (11), 2270
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10112270
Abstract
Nanostructuring is considered one of the key approaches to achieve highly efficient thermoelectric alloys by reducing thermal conductivity. In this study, we investigated the effect of oxide (ZnO and SnO2) nanolayers at the grain boundaries of polycrystalline In0.2Yb0.1Co4Sb12 skutterudites on their electrical and thermal transport properties. Skutterudite powders with oxide nanolayers were prepared by atomic layer deposition method, and the number of deposition cycles was varied to control the coating thickness. The coated powders were consolidated by spark plasma sintering. With increasing number of deposition cycle, the electrical conductivity gradually decreased, while the Seebeck coefficient changed insignificantly; this indicates that the carrier mobility decreased due to the oxide nanolayers. In contrast, the lattice thermal conductivity increased with an increase in the number of deposition cycles, demonstrating the reduction in phonon scattering by grain boundaries owing to the oxide nanolayers. Thus, we could easily control the thermoelectric properties of skutterudite materials through adjusting the oxide nanolayer by atomic layer deposition method.This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dense dislocation arrays embedded in grain boundaries for high-performance bulk thermoelectricsScience, 2015
- Phase diagram of In–Co–Sb system and thermoelectric properties of In-containing skutteruditesEnergy & Environmental Science, 2013
- High thermoelectric performance of In, Yb, Ce multiple filled CoSb3 based skutterudite compoundsJournal of Solid State Chemistry, 2012
- Realization of high thermoelectric performance in n-type partially filled skutteruditesJournal of Materials Research, 2011
- Multiple-Filled Skutterudites: High Thermoelectric Figure of Merit through Separately Optimizing Electrical and Thermal TransportsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2011
- Lattice thermal conductivity of nanostructured thermoelectric materials based on PbTeApplied Physics Letters, 2009
- Enhancement of Thermoelectric Efficiency in PbTe by Distortion of the Electronic Density of StatesScience, 2008
- Complex thermoelectric materialsNature Materials, 2008
- Thermoelectric Properties of Indium-Filled SkutteruditesChemistry of Materials, 2006
- Atomic Layer Deposition Chemistry: Recent Developments and Future ChallengesAngewandte Chemie-International Edition, 2003