Abstract
Filled skutterudites are prospective intermediate temperature materials for thermoelectric power generation. CoSb 3-based n-type filled skutterudites have good electrical transport properties with power factor values over 40 μW/cm K 2 at elevated temperatures. Filling multiple fillers into the crystallographic voids of skutterudites would help scatter a broad range of lattice phonons, thus resulting in lower lattice thermal conductivity values. We report the thermoelectric properties of n-type multiple-filled skutterudites between 5 K and 800 K. The combination of different fillers inside the voids of the skutterudite structure shows enhanced phonon scattering, and consequently a strong suppression of the lattice thermal conductivity. Very good power factor values are achieved in multiple-filled skutterudite compared with single-element-filled materials. The dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit for n-type filled skutterudites is improved through multiple-filling in a wide temperature range.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 930-933 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Journal of Electronic Materials |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 2009 |
Funding
X.S., J.R.S., and J.Y. would like to thank Drs. J.F. Herbst and M.W. Verbrugge for continuous support and encouragement. The work is supported by GM and by DOE under corporate agreement DE-FC26-04NT42278, by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies as part of the High-Temperature Materials Laboratory User Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by the UT-Battelle LLC, for the Department of Energy under Contract DEA-C05000OR22725.
Keywords
- Multiple-filling
- Skutterudite
- Thermal conductivity
- Thermoelectric