Boston, R.H. orcid.org/0000-0002-2131-2236, Schmidt, W., Lewin, G.D. et al. (5 more authors) (2017) Protocols for the Fabrication, Characterization, and Optimization of n-Type Thermoelectric Ceramic Oxides. Chemistry of Materials, 29 (1). pp. 265-280. ISSN 1520-5002
Abstract
The development of oxides with high figure of merit, ZT, at modest temperatures (∼300–500 °C) is desirable for ceramic-based thermoelectric generator technology. Although ZT is a compound metric with contributions from thermal conductivity (κ), Seebeck coefficient (S), and electrical conductivity (σ), it has been empirically demonstrated that the key to developing thermoelectric n-type oxides is to optimize σ of the ceramic to ∼1000 S/cm at the operating temperature. Titanate-based perovskites are a popular choice for the development of n-type oxide ceramics; however, the levels of σ required cannot be achieved without control of the ceramic quality, significant reduction of the ceramic in low P(O2) atmosphere (e.g., N2/5%H2), and the use of specific dopants and dopant mechanisms, which allow the egress of oxygen homogeneously from the lattice. Here, we discuss the processing protocols to fabricate reliable, reproducible ceramic oxides and schemes for inducing high levels of σ, thereby optimizing the power factor (PF = σS2) and ZT. The problems associated with measuring κ, σ, and S to achieve reproducible and accurate values of ZT are discussed, as are future directions which should enable further optimization. Finally, we comment on how these protocols may be applied to other systems and structures.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 2016 American Chemical Society ACS AuthorChoice - This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (EPSRC) EP/L017563/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jul 2017 11:15 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2017 11:26 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b03600 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b03600 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:118545 |