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Miscibility Gap in the Phase Diagrams of Thermoelectric Half-Heusler Materials CoTi\(_{1-x}Y_x\)Sb (Y = Sc, V, Mn, Fe)

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Abstract

The half-Heusler system CoTi\({_{1-x}Y_x}\)Sb (Y = Sc, V, Mn, Fe) has been investigated by means of an ab initio-based mean-field model which provides phase diagrams of alloys. Co(Ti,Y)Sb materials show a miscibility gap, which leads to spontaneous demixing within a spinodal region. The results are compared with experimental investigations of microstructure and transport properties of the alloys. The thermoelectric properties of the solid solution were investigated comprehensively by measuring the temperature dependence of the Seebeck coefficient as well as electrical and thermal conductivity. Compared with pure CoTiSb, the thermal conductivity of substituted CoTi\({_{0.9}Y_{0.1}}\)Sb was significantly reduced by approximately 53% for Y = V. Here, we report on the effect of phase separation in the Co(Ti,Y)Sb system and its consequences for the thermoelectric figure or merit.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Program SPP 1386). We thank Sylvia Kostmann for specimen preparation, and Monika Eckert, Petra Scheppan, and Ulrich Burkhardt for SEM and EDX measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Material- und Prozesssimulation, Universität Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany

    Joaquin Miranda Mena, Thomas Gruhn, Heiko G. Schoberth & Heike Emmerich

  2. Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, 01187, Dresden, Germany

    Elisabeth Rausch, Siham Ouardi, Gerhard H. Fecher & Claudia Felser

Authors
  1. Joaquin Miranda Mena
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  2. Elisabeth Rausch
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  3. Siham Ouardi
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Correspondence to Joaquin Miranda Mena.

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Mena, J.M., Rausch, E., Ouardi, S. et al. Miscibility Gap in the Phase Diagrams of Thermoelectric Half-Heusler Materials CoTi\(_{1-x}Y_x\)Sb (Y = Sc, V, Mn, Fe). J. Electron. Mater. 45, 1382–1388 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4041-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4041-9

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