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Enhancement in Thermoelectric Figure‐Of‐Merit of an N‐Type Half‐Heusler Compound by the Nanocomposite Approach
Author(s) -
Joshi Giri,
Yan Xiao,
Wang Hengzhi,
Liu Weishu,
Chen Gang,
Ren Zhifeng
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201100126
Subject(s) - materials science , figure of merit , thermoelectric effect , nanocomposite , thermal conductivity , phonon scattering , hot pressing , thermoelectric materials , arc melting , condensed matter physics , composite material , metallurgy , alloy , optoelectronics , thermodynamics , physics
An enhancement in the dimensionless thermoelectric figure‐of‐merit ( ZT ) of an n‐type half‐Heusler material is reported using a nanocomposite approach. A peak ZT value of 1.0 was achieved at 600 °C–700 °C, which is about 25% higher than the previously reported highest value. The samples were made by ball‐milling ingots of composition Hf 0.75 Zr 0.25 NiSn 0.99 Sb 0.01 into nanopowders and hot‐pressing the powders into dense bulk samples. The ingots were formed by arc‐melting the elements. The ZT enhancement mainly comes from reduction of thermal conductivity due to increased phonon scattering at grain boundaries and crystal defects, and optimization of antimony doping.