• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제23권2호
• /
• pp.126-131
• /
• 2016

The recent rise in applications of thermoelectric materials has attracted interest in studies toward the fabrication of thermoelectric materials using mass production techniques. In this study, we successfully fabricate n-type $Bi_2Te_{2.7}Se_{0.3}$ material by a combination of mass production powder metallurgy techniques, gas atomization, and spark plasma sintering. In addition, to examine the effects of hydrogen reduction in the microstructure, the thermoelectric and mechanical properties are measured and analyzed. Here, almost 60% of the oxygen content of the powder are eliminated after hydrogen reduction for 4 h at $360^{\circ}C$. Micrographs of the powder show that the reduced powder had a comparatively clean surface and larger grain sizes than unreduced powder. The density of the consolidated bulk using as-atomized powder and reduced atomized powder exceeds 99%. The thermoelectric power factor of the sample prepared by reduction of powder is 20% better than that of the sample prepared using unreduced powder.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제17권2호
• /
• pp.136-141
• /
• 2010

Bismuth-telluride based $(Bi_{0.2}Sb_{0.8})_2Te_3$ thermoelectric powders were fabricated by two-step planetary milling process which produces bimodal size distribution ranging $400\;nm\;{\sim}\;2\;{\mu}m$. The powders were reduced in hydrogen atmosphere to minimize oxygen contents which cause degradation of thermoelectric performance by decreasing electrical conductivity. Oxygen contents were decreased from 0.48% to 0.25% by the reduction process. In this study, both the as-synthesized and the reduced powders were consolidated by the spark plasma sintering process at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10 min at the heating rate of $100^{\circ}C/min$ and then their thermoelectric properties were investigated. The sintered samples using the reduced p-type thermoelectric powders show 15% lower specific electrical resistivity ($0.8\;m{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$) than those of the as-synthesized powders while Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity do not change a lot. The results confirmed that ZT value of thermoelectric performance at room temperature was improved by 15% due to high electric conductivity caused by the controlled oxygen contents present at bismuth telluride materials.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제17권2호
• /
• pp.107-112
• /
• 2010

Carbon-nanotube-embedded bismuth telluride (CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$) matrix composites were fabricated by a powder metallurgy process. Composite powders, whereby 5 vol.% of functionalized CNTs were homogeneously mixed with $Bi_2Te_3$ alloying powders, were successfully synthesized by using high-energy ball milling process. The powders were consolidated into bulk CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ composites by spark plasma sintering process at $350^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. The fabricated composites showed the uniform mixing and homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in the $Bi_2Te_3$ matrix. Seebeck coefficient of CNT/$Bi_2Te_3$ composites reveals that the composite has n-type semiconducting characteristics with values ranging $-55\;{\mu}V/K$ to $-95\;{\mu}V/K$ with increasing temperature. Furthermore, the significant reduction in thermal conductivity has been clearly observed in the composites. The results showed that CNT addition to thermoelectric materials could be useful method to obtain high thermoelectric performance.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제25권2호
• /
• pp.126-131
• /
• 2018

In the present study, we investigate the effects of milling time and the addition of a process control agent (PCA) on the austenite stability of a nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn alloy by XRD analysis and micrograph observation. Nanocrystalline Fe-7%Mn alloys samples are successfully fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The crystallite size of ball-milled powder and the volume fraction of austenite in the sintered sample are calculated using XRD analysis. Changes in the shape and structure of alloyed powder according to milling conditions are observed through FE-SEM. It is found that the crystallite size is reduced with increasing milling time and amount of PCA addition due to the variation in the balance between the cold-welding and fracturing processes. As a result, the austenite stability increased, resulting in an exceptionally high volume fraction of austenite retained at room temperature.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제24권2호
• /
• pp.122-127
• /
• 2017

Fe-6.5 wt.% Si alloys are widely known to have excellent soft magnetic properties such as high magnetic flux density, low coercivity, and low core loss at high frequency. In this work, disc-shaped preforms are prepared by spark plasma sintering at 1223 K after inert gas atomization of Fe-6.5 wt.% Si powders. Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheets are rolled by a powder hot-rolling process without cracking, and their microstructure and soft magnetic properties are investigated. The microstructure and magnetic properties (saturation magnetization and core loss) of the hot-rolled Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheets are examined by scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, vibration sample magnetometry, and AC B-H analysis. The Fe-6.5 wt.% Si sheet rolled at a total reduction ratio of 80% exhibits good soft magnetic properties such as a saturation magnetization of 1.74 T and core loss ($W_{5/1000}$) of 30.7 W/kg. This result is caused by an increase in the electrical resistivity resulting from an increased particle boundary density and the oxide layers between the primary particle boundaries.

• 한국분말재료학회지
• /
• 제27권5호
• /
• pp.414-419
• /
• 2020

In the present study, we investigated the austenite stability of a sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy. The volume fraction of austenite was measured based on the X-ray diffraction data of sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys, which were prepared by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. The sintered alloy samples showed a higher volume fraction of austenite at room temperature as compared to the equilibrium volume fraction of austenite obtained using thermodynamic calculations, which resulted from the nanosized crystalline structure of the sintered alloy. It was proved that the austenite stability of the sintered Fe-based alloy increased with a rise in the amount of austenite stabilizing elements such as Mn, Ni, and C; however, it increased more effectively with a decrease in the actual grain size. Furthermore, we proposed a new equation to predict the martensite starting temperature for sintered Fe-based alloys.

• Journal of Magnetics
• /
• 제16권4호
• /
• pp.435-439
• /
• 2011

In this work, we prepared Fe-Ni alloy nanopowders by wire electrical explosion in deionized water and ethanol. Particles size and morphology of the as-synthesized nanoparticles prepared in water and ethanol were observed by transmission electron microscopy. In both cases, the as-synthesized nanoparticles were in nearly spherical shape and their size distribution was broad. The particles prepared in the water were in core-shell structure due to the oxidation of Fe element. X-ray diffraction was used to analyze the phase of the nanopowders. It showed that the nanopowders prepared in water had ${\gamma}$-Fe-Ni solid solution and FeO phase. The samples obtained in ethanol were in two phases of Fe-Ni solid solution, ${\gamma}$-Fe-Ni and ${\alpha}$-Fe-Ni. Bulk samples were made from the as-synthesized nanopowders by spark plasma sintering at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 10 min. Structure of the bulk sample was observed by scanning electron microscope. Magnetic properties of the as-synthesized nanopowders and the bulk samples were investigated by vibrating sample magnetometer. The hysteresis loop of the assynthesized nanopowders and the sintered bulk samples revealed a ferromagnetic characteristic.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
• /
• 제28권12호
• /
• pp.847-851
• /
• 2015

The effects of Al-substitution on thermoelectric and charge transport properties of BiCuOSe compounds were investigated. The compounds were prepared by a solid-state reaction and consolidated by SPS (spark plasma sintering). In spite of the increase in the hole concentration with increasing Al amounts in BiCuOSe compound, the electrical conductivity at room temperature was kept constant due to the reduction of mobility. However, electrical conductivities of Al-substituted BiCuOSe compounds at elevated temperature (> 600 K) were higher than those of BiCuOSe, and this result was discussed in terms of it's the band gap energy. The Seebeck coefficient was drastically reduced when Al was substituted in Bi site, which indicated that the electronic structure was influenced by the Al-substitution into Bi-site.

• Composites Research
• /
• 제28권6호
• /
• pp.366-371
• /
• 2015

In order to improve the mechanical properties of tungsten at room and elevated temperature, hafnium carbide (HfC) reinforced tungsten matrix composites were prepared using the spark plasma sintering technique. The effect of HfC content on the compressive strength and flexural strength of the tungsten composites was investigated. Mechanical properties of the composites were also measured at elevated temperatures and their trends, with varying reinforcement volume fraction, were studied. The effect of reinforcement fraction on the thermal properties of the composites was investigated. The thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the composites decreased with increasing temperature and reinforcement volume fraction. An inherently low thermal conductivity of the reinforcement as well as interfacial losses was responsible for lower values of thermal conductivity of the composites. Values of coefficient of thermal expansion of the composites were observed to increase with HfC volume fraction.

• 한국기계가공학회지
• /
• 제12권6호
• /
• pp.23-29
• /
• 2013

In this paper, pure $I_{ph}$ and hybrid carbon nanotube reinforced $I_{ph}$ were sintered using the SPS(spark plasma sintering) method for high densification. A nanosecond laser (${\lambda}=1063nm$, ${\tau}P=10ns$) and a femtosecond laser (${\lambda}=1027nm$, ${\tau}P=380fs$) were installed on an optical system for the micromachining test. The ablation characteristics of the pure $I_{ph}$ and CNT/$I_{ph}$ composites, such as thermal effect and ablation depth, were investigated using FE-SEM and a confocal microscope device. Laser machining results for the two mating materials showed improved performances: CNT/$I_{ph}$ composites showed good surface morphology of hole drilling without a melting zone due to the composites' high thermal properties; also, the ablated depth of CNT/$I_{ph}$ was higher than that of pure $I_{ph}$.