بهبود خصوصیات ترموالکتریکی هگزابورید‌های قلیایی خاکی

Improvement of thermoelectric properties of

alkaline-earth hexaborides

بهبود خصوصیات ترموالکتریکی هگزابورید‌های قلیایی خاکی

ABSTRACT

Thermoelectric (TE) and transport properties of alkaline-earth hexaborides were examined to investigate the possibility of improvement in their TE performance. As carrier concentration increased, electrical conductivity increased and the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient decreased monotonically, while carrier mobility was almost unchanged. These results suggest that the electrical properties of the hexaboride depend largely on carrier concentration. Thermal conductivity of the hexaboride was higher than 10W/mK even at 1073K, which is relatively high among TE materials. Alloys of CaB6 and SrB6 were prepared in order to reduce lattice thermal conductivity. Whereas the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of the alloys were intermediate between those of CaB6 and SrB6 single phases, the thermal conductivities of the alloys were lower than those of both single phases. The highest TE performance was obtained in the vicinity of Ca0.5Sr0.5B6, indicating that alloying is effective in improving the performance.