• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.352-358
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• 2008

The present study focused on the synthesis of a bismuth-antimony-tellurium-based thermoelectric nanopowders using plasma arc discharge process. The chemical composition, phase structure, particle size of the synthesized powders under various synthesis conditions were analyzed using XRF, XRD and SEM. The powders as synthesized were sintered by the plasma activated sintering. The thermoelectric properties of sintered body were analyzed by measuring Seebeck coefficient, specific electric resistivity and thermal conductivity. The chemical composition of the synthesized Bi-Sb-Te-based powders approached that of the raw material with an increasing DC current of the are plasma. The synthesized Bi-Sb-Te-based powder consist of a mixed phase structure of the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_{3}$, $Bi_{2}Te_{3}$ and $Sb_{2}Te_{3}$ phases. This powder has homogeneous mixing state of two different particles in an average particle size; about 100nm and about 500nm. The figure of merit of the sintered body of the synthesized 18.75 wt.%Bi-24.68 wt.%Sb-56.57 wt.%Te nanopowder showed higher value than one of the sintered body of the mechanically milled 12.64 wt.%Bi-29.47 wt.%Sb-57.89 wt.%Te powder.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.218-223
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• 2004

P-type $\beta$-FeSi$_2$ with a nominal composition of $Fe_{0.92}Mn_{0.08}Si_2$ powders has been produced by mechanical alloying process. As-milled powders were spray dried and consolidated by atmospheric plasma thermal spraying as a rapid sintering process. As-milled powders were of metastable state and fully transformed to $\beta$-$FeSi_2$ phase by subsequent isothermal annealing. However, as-thermal sprayed $Fe_{0.92}Mn_{0.08}Si_2$ consisted of untransformed mixture of $\alpha$-$Fe_2Si_{5}$ and $\varepsilon$-FeSi phases. Isothermal annealing has been carried out to induce transformation to the thermoelectric semiconducting $\beta$-$FeSi_2$ phase. Isothermal annealing at $845^{\circ}C$ in vacuum gradually led to the thermoelectric semiconducting $\beta$-$FeSi_2$ phase transformation, but some residual metallic $\alpha$ and $\varepsilon$ phases were unavoidable even after prolonged annealing. Thermoelectric properties of $\beta$-$FeSi_2$ materials before and after isothermal annealing were evaluated. Seebeck coefficient increased and electric conductivity decreased with increasing annealing time due to the phase transition from metallic phases to semiconducting phases. Thermoelectric properties showed gradual increment, but overall properties appeared to be inferior to those of vacuum hot pressed specimens.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.280-284
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• 2012

Bismuth antimony telluride (BiSbTe) thermoelectric materials were successfully prepared by a spark plasma sintering process. Crystalline BiSbTe ingots were crushed into small pieces and then attrition milled into fine powders of about 300 nm ~ 2${\mu}m$ size under argon gas. Spark plasma sintering was applied on the BiSbTe powders at 240, 320, and $380^{\circ}C$, respectively, under a pressure of 40 MPa in vacuum. The heating rate was $50^{\circ}C$/min and the holding time at the sintering temperature was 10 min. At all sintering temperatures, high density bulk BiSbTe was successfully obtained. The XRD patterns verify that all samples were well matched with the $Bi_{0.5}Sb_{1.5}Te_{3}$. Seebeck coefficient (S), electric conductivity (${\sigma}$) and thermal conductivity (k) were evaluated in a temperature range of $25{\sim}300^{\circ}C$. The thermoelectric properties of BiSbTe were evaluated by the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT (ZT = $S^2{\sigma}T$/k). The grain size and electric conductivity of sintered BiSbTe increased as the sintering temperature increased but the thermal conductivity was similar at all sintering temperatures. Grain growth reduced the carrier concentration, because grain growth reduced the grain boundaries, which serve as acceptors. Meanwhile, the carrier mobility was greatly increased and the electric conductivity was also improved. Consequentially, the grains grew with increasing sintering temperature and the figure of merit was improved.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.243-248
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• 2013

Internal combustion engines typically expel 30%-40% of the energy supplied by fuel to the environment through their exhaust system. Therefore, further significant improvements in the thermal efficiency of IC engines are possible by recovering the waste heat from the engine exhaust gas. With this fact in mind, a numerical simulation was carried out to investigate the potential of using thermoelectric generation with an internal combustion engine for waste heat recovery. Physical parameters such as the exhaust temperature and mass flow rate were evaluated in the exhaust system, and the optimum location for inserting a thermoelectric generator (TEG) into the system was determined. The TEG will be located in the exhaust system and will use the energy flow between the warmer exhaust gas and the external environment. The optimum position of the temperature distribution and the TEG performance were predicted through numerical analysis. The experimental results obtained showed that the power output significantly increases with the temperature difference between the cold and hot sides of the TEG.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.135-142
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• 2018

In this study, we have fabricated n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.85}Se_{0.15}$ compounds by different processing routes such as crushing, milling and mixing respectively. Subsequently, the obtained powders were consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The phase crystallinity of bulk samples were identified using X-ray diffraction technique. Powder morphology and fracture surface of bulk samples were observed using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity values were significantly increased for the milling sample than crushing and mixing samples. As a result, the maximum power factor was obtained $2.4mW/mK^2$, which is thrice than that of crushing process. The maximum figure of merit (ZT) of 0.77 was achieved at 400 K for the milling sample. Furthermore, relatively high hardness and density values were noticed for the different processed samples.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.326-330
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• 2010

$CoSb_3$ Skutterudites materials have high potential for thermoelectric application at mid-temperature range because of their superior thermoelectric properties via control of charge carrier density and substitution of foreign atoms. Improvement of thermoelectric properties is expected for the ternary solid solution developed by substitution of foreign atoms having different valances into the $CoSb_3$ matrix. In this study, ternary solid solutions with a stoichiometry of $Co_{1-x}Ni_xSb_3$ x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, $CoSb_{3-y}Te_y$, y = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 were prepared by the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) system. Before the SPS synthesis, the ingots were synthesized by vacuum induction melting and followed by annealing. For phase analysis X-ray powder diffraction patterns were checked. All the samples were confirmed as single phase; however, with samples that were more doped than the solubility limit some secondary phases were detected. All the samples doped with Ni and Te atoms showed a negative Seebeck coefficient and their electrical conductivities increased with the doping amount up to the solubility limit. For the samples prepared by SPS the maximum value for dimensionless figure of merit reached 0.26, 0.42 for $Co_{0.9}Ni_{0.1}Sb_3$, $CoSb_{2.8}Te_{0.2}$ at 690 K, respectively. These results show that the SPS method is effective in this system and Ni/Te dopants are also effective for increasing thermoelectric properties of this system.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1135-1140
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• 2008

Bismuth-telluride based thin film materials are grown by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition(MOCVD). A planar type thermoelectric device has been fabricated using p-type $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ and n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films. Firstly, the p-type thermoelectric element was patterned after growth of $4{\mu}m$ thickness of $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ layer. Again n-type $Bi_2Te_3$ film was grown onto the patterned p-type thermoelectric film and n-type strips are formed by using selective chemical etchant for $Bi_2Te_3$. The top electrical connector was formed by thermally deposited metal film. The generator consists of 20 pairs of p- and n-type legs. We demonstrate complex structures of different conduction types of thermoelectric element on same substrate by two separate runs of MOCVD with etch-stop layer and selective etchant for n-type thermoelectric material. Device performance was evaluated on a number of thermoelectric devices. To demonstrate power generation, one side of the sample was heated by heating block and the voltage output measured. As expected for a thermoelectric generator, the voltage decreases linearly, while the power output rises to a maximum. The highest estimated power of $1.3{\mu}W$ is obtained for the temperature difference of 45 K. we provide a promising procedure for fabricating thin film thermoelectric generators by using MOCVD grown thermoelectric materials which may have nanostructure with high thermoelectric properties.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.13 no.5 s.58
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• pp.313-320
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• 2006

The present study is to analyze the thermoelectric properties of $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ thermoelectric materials fabricated by the mechanical grinding process. The $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ powders were prepared by the combination of mechanical milling and reduction treating methods using simply crushed pre-alloyed $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ powder. The mechanical milling was carried out using the tumbler-ball mill and planetary ball mill. The tumbler-ball milling had an effect on the carrier mobility rather than the carrier concentration, whereas, the latter on the carrier concentration. The specific electric resistivity and Seebeck coefficient decreased with increasing the reduction-heat-treatment time. The thermal conductivity continuously increased with increasing the reduction-heat-treatment time. The figure of merit of the $Bi_{0.4}Sb_{1.6}Te_3$ sintered body prepared by the mechanical grinding process showed higher value than one of the sintered body of the simply crushed powder.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.141-142
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• 2006

Thermoelectric properties and microstructures of $Sr_{8-x}Ba_xGA_{16}Ge_{30}$ alloys fabricated by the arc-melting method were investigated. The alloys with the nominal composition of $Sr_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Ba_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ were the single-phase alloys, while those of $Sr_4Ba_4Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Sr_2Ba_6Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ were two-phases alloys. Electrical resistivity and the Seebeck coefficient for both two-phases alloys were higher in magnitude than those of the single-phase alloys between room temperature and 873K The thermal conductivities for both two-phase alloys were reduced with respect to those of the single-phase alloys in the whole temperature range. The maximum values of ZT for $Sr_4Ba_4Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Sr_2Ba_6Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ were achieved with the values of 0.69 at 753K and 0.51 at 754K, respectively, while those of $Sr_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ and $Ba_8Ga_{16}Ge_{30}$ were 0.86 at 758K and 0.76 at 943K, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.162-166
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• 2017

Thermoelectric compounds of $Zn_{1-x}Ag_xSb$ with x = 0~0.2 were prepared by vacuum melting and quenching process and their crystal phases and thermoelectric properties were examined. It was found that free metallic Sb phases were formed in the compound with x = 0.05, leading to increasing the electrical conductivities. The power factors were significantly affected by the electrical conductivity rather than Seebeck coefficient. When x > 0.05, the peak intensities of $Ag_3Sb$ phases in XRD patterns were increased and those of free Sb phases were weakened. These changes of second phases resulted in decreasing the electrical conductivities and the power factors and became more obvious in the compound with x = 0.2.