Thermoelectric properties of Tl-filled Co-free p-type skutterudites: Tlx(Fe,Ni)4Sb12

Our group has discovered that Tl-filled CoSb3-based skutterudites (TlxCoSb3) show an excellent thermoelectric (TE) figure of merit, ZT, of 0.9 [A. Harnwunggmoung et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 202107 (2010)]. However, all TlxCoSb3 studied so far show n-type characteristics. Since a powerful TE module...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2014-01, Vol.115 (2)
Main Authors: Choi, Seongho, Kurosaki, Ken, Ohishi Yuji, Muta Hiroaki
Format: Article
Language:eng ; jpn
Subjects:
Applied physics
Figure of merit
Nickel
Thermoelectricity
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Our group has discovered that Tl-filled CoSb3-based skutterudites (TlxCoSb3) show an excellent thermoelectric (TE) figure of merit, ZT, of 0.9 [A. Harnwunggmoung et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 202107 (2010)]. However, all TlxCoSb3 studied so far show n-type characteristics. Since a powerful TE module requires a similar performance in both n- and p-type TE materials, p-type skutterudites filled by Tl need to be developed. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness, Co should be replaced by cheaper elements. Therefore, we attempted to develop Tl-filled Co-free p-type skutterudites with high ZT. We selected the sample compositions to be TlxFe2.5Ni1.5Sb12 and studied the high-temperature TE properties. It was found that the samples with x ≤ 0.6 exhibited p-type characteristics and the sample with x = 0.6 exhibited the best TE performance. The maximum ZT, obtained at 422 K, was 0.16, which is comparable to those of other Tl-filled p-type skutterudites.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.4861157