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Solvothermal synthesis and structural characterization of unfilled and Yb‐filled cobalt antimony skutterudite
Author(s) -
Kadel Kamal,
Li Wenzhi
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
crystal research and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.377
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1521-4079
pISSN - 0232-1300
DOI - 10.1002/crat.201300330
Subject(s) - skutterudite , materials science , sodium borohydride , annealing (glass) , chemical engineering , nanoparticle , cobalt , antimony , phase (matter) , transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , composite material , metallurgy , chemistry , organic chemistry , thermal conductivity , thermoelectric materials , engineering , catalysis
Unfilled and ytterbium (Yb)‐filled cobalt antimony (CoSb 3 ) nanoparticles were synthesized via solvothermal route using sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) as a reducing agent. The effect of various amounts of sodium borohydride on the formation of as‐synthesized CoSb 3 nanoparticles with pure phase was investigated. It is found that a sufficient amount of NaBH 4 was required in order to form pure phase CoSb 3 . In addition, the effect of annealing time and temperature on the phase transformation of the as‐prepared non‐pure phase CoSb 3 sample was also investigated. It is found that annealing at 500 °C for 5 h would eliminate those non‐CoSb 3 phases and result in pure cubic skutterudite phase CoSb 3 . Structural characterization of the as‐prepared unfilled and Yb‐filled nanoparticles was carried out with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which revealed the formation of highly crystalline cubic phase of skutterudite Yb‐filled CoSb 3 . Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) confirmed the presence of ytterbium in the Yb‐filled CoSb 3 samples.