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Rapid preparation of bulk Al x Yb0.25Co4Sb12 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) skutterudite thermoelectric materials with high figure of merit ZT = 1.36

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Abstract

In this work, a skutterudite-based compound, Yb0.25Co4Sb12, added with Al x (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) was synthesized with a simple mechanical alloying technique followed by spark plasma sintering. The microstructural properties and thermoelectric properties of the as-sintered samples were investigated. The Al atoms formed AlSb nano-inclusions in the grain boundaries instead of entering the Sb-icosahedral voids, introducing point defects in the matrix lattice. By scattering low-energy electrons, the grain boundaries acted as a potential barrier in simultaneously attaining low electrical resistivity and high Seebeck coefficient. Therefore, Al0.1Yb0.25Co4Sb12 exhibited a high power factor of 4.8 × 10−3 W/m K2 at 377 °C. AlSb of nanometer length enhanced interfacial phonon scattering, thereby significantly reducing the lattice thermal conductivity of Al0.3Yb0.25Co4Sb12 to 0.6 W/m K at 500 K. The Al0.3Yb0.25Co4Sb12 composite exhibited the highest figure of merit, ZT = 1.36, at 850 K.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by UMRG (Grant Nos. RP023B-13AET and RP023C/13AET), Science Fund (Grant No. SF020-2013) and FRGS (Grant No. FP022/2014B).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bahri, 13104, Khartoum, Sudan

    Mohamed Hamid Elsheikh

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Mohd Faizul Mohd Sabri, H. H. Masjuki, Dhafer Abdulameer Shnawah & Mohamed Bashir Ali Bashir

  3. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Suhana Mohd Said

  4. Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8579, Japan

    Yuzuru Miyazaki & Shuma Naito

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  1. Mohamed Hamid Elsheikh
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  2. Mohd Faizul Mohd Sabri
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  8. Mohamed Bashir Ali Bashir
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Correspondence to Mohamed Hamid Elsheikh.

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Elsheikh, M.H., Sabri, M.F.M., Said, S.M. et al. Rapid preparation of bulk Al x Yb0.25Co4Sb12 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) skutterudite thermoelectric materials with high figure of merit ZT = 1.36. J Mater Sci 52, 5324–5332 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0772-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-0772-8

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