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Microstructure and High-Temperature Thermoelectric Performance of InxCo4Sb12 Fabricated via Microwave Synthesis Combined with Spark Plasma Sintering

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Abstract

Indium-filled InxCo4Sb12 thermoelectric bulk ingots are fabricated via microwave synthesis combined with spark plasma sintering. All major x-ray diffraction peaks are indexed to the body-centered cubic CoSb3, and secondary phases are detected in different samples. Nano-sized CoSb2, incoherent grain boundary and dislocations are observed by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The carrier concentration of InxCo4Sb12 is 4.95 × 1019–2.91 × 1020 cm−3. Minimum lattice thermal conductivity of 1.63 Wm−1 K−1 is achieved. In0.8Co4Sb12 shows a maximum ZT of 0.90 at 673 K.

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Acknowledgments

This work was jointly supported by the Open Research Project from the State Key Laboratory of Vanadium and Titanium Resources Comprehensive Utilization (Grant No. 2021P4FZG10A), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51974005, No. 51574134), University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province (Grant No. GXXT-2020-007), and Open Research Project from the State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy (Grant No. G202001).

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Author notes

  1. Chao Yong and Ying Lei have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Vanadium and Titanium Resources Comprehensive Utilization, Pangang Group Research Institute Co., Ltd., Panzhihua, 617000, China

    Chao Yong & Ying Lei

  2. School of Metallurgical Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma’anshan, 243032, China

    Chao Yong, Ying Lei, Xiaowu Jiang, Yu Li, Jin Qiu, Feng Gao, Nan Wang & Guangyuan Song

  3. College of Materials and Metallurgy, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China

    Ying Lei

  4. Institute of Energy, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, 230041, China

    Ying Lei & Huaichuan Hu

  5. The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430081, China

    Ying Lei

  6. Ironmaking Plant of Shanghai Meishan Iron and Steel Limited By Share Co., Ltd., Nanking, 210039, China

    Xiaowu Jiang

Authors
  1. Chao Yong
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  2. Ying Lei
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  3. Xiaowu Jiang
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  4. Yu Li
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Correspondence to Yu Li.

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Yong, C., Lei, Y., Jiang, X. et al. Microstructure and High-Temperature Thermoelectric Performance of InxCo4Sb12 Fabricated via Microwave Synthesis Combined with Spark Plasma Sintering. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 2913–2918 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-023-10296-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-023-10296-y

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