Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01

Tsutomu Kanno; Hiromasa Tamaki; Hiroki K. Sato; Stephen Dongmin Kang; Saneyuki Ohno; Kazuki Imasato; Jimmy Jiahong Kuo; G. Jeffrey Snyder; Yuzuru Miyazaki

doi:10.1063/1.5016488

Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg_3.2Sb_1.5Bi_0.49Te_0.01

Tsutomu Kanno, Hiromasa Tamaki, Hiroki K. Sato, Stephen Dongmin Kang, Saneyuki Ohno, Kazuki Imasato, Jimmy Jiahong Kuo, G. Jeffrey Snyder, Yuzuru Miyazaki

ENG - Applied Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

102 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Zintl compound n-type Mg₃(Sb,Bi)₂ was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material.

Original language	English
Article number	033903
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	112
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5016488
Publication status	Published - 2018 Jan 15

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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title = "Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.49Te0.01",

abstract = "Zintl compound n-type Mg3(Sb,Bi)2 was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material.",

author = "Tsutomu Kanno and Hiromasa Tamaki and Sato, {Hiroki K.} and Kang, {Stephen Dongmin} and Saneyuki Ohno and Kazuki Imasato and Kuo, {Jimmy Jiahong} and Snyder, {G. Jeffrey} and Yuzuru Miyazaki",

note = "Funding Information: The NU group was supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate{\textquoteright}s Radioisotope Power Systems Thermoelectric Technology Development program. The use of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Funding Information: The NU group was supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Radioisotope Power Systems Thermoelectric Technology Development program. The use of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Author(s).",

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AU - Kanno, Tsutomu

AU - Tamaki, Hiromasa

AU - Sato, Hiroki K.

AU - Kang, Stephen Dongmin

AU - Ohno, Saneyuki

AU - Imasato, Kazuki

AU - Kuo, Jimmy Jiahong

AU - Snyder, G. Jeffrey

AU - Miyazaki, Yuzuru

N1 - Funding Information: The NU group was supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Thermoelectric Technology Development program. The use of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Funding Information: The NU group was supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Radioisotope Power Systems Thermoelectric Technology Development program. The use of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Author(s).

PY - 2018/1/15

Y1 - 2018/1/15

N2 - Zintl compound n-type Mg3(Sb,Bi)2 was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material.

AB - Zintl compound n-type Mg3(Sb,Bi)2 was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material.

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Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg_3.2Sb_1.5Bi_0.49Te_0.01

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