Enhancing the thermoelectric properties of single and double filled p-type skutterudites synthesized by an up-scaled ball-milling process

Prado Gonjal, J., Vaqueiro, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7545-6262, Nuttall, C., Potter, R. and Powell, A. V. (2017) Enhancing the thermoelectric properties of single and double filled p-type skutterudites synthesized by an up-scaled ball-milling process. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 695. pp. 3598-3604. ISSN 0925-8388 doi: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.11.404

Abstract/Summary

The single and double filled p-type skutterudites Ce0.8Fe3CoSb12 and Ce0.5Yb0.5Fe3.25Co0.75Sb12 have been prepared by mechanical alloying. This offers a rapid method for the preparation of skutterudites that could be scaled up for adoption at industrial level. The large-scale samples prepared by ball-milling exhibit enhanced figures of merit ZT, compared with materials prepared by conventional solid-state reaction. At room temperature ZT is increased by ca. 19 % for both single and double filled skutterudites. Maximum figures of merit, ZT = 0.68 and ZT = 0.93 are attained for Ce0.8Fe3CoSb12 at 773 K and Ce0.5Yb0.5Fe3.25Co0.75Sb12 at 823 K respectively. The improvement in thermoelectric values at room temperature may be traced to a reduction in thermal conductivity in the ball-milled samples arising from the reduced grain size. The influence of the microstructure on the thermoelectric properties, together with the stability in air and the performance of the materials after several heating and cooling cycles has been studied and are detailed in this work. The densified samples prepared by ball-milling also show a higher resistance to oxidation, which starts at 694 K for Ce0.8Fe3CoSb12 and at 783 K for Ce0.5Yb0.5Fe3.25Co0.75Sb12.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/68315
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Energy Research Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Xray (CAF) Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF) > Electron Microscopy Laboratory (CAF)
Publisher	Elsevier
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