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Hardness and fracture toughness of thermoelectric La3−x Te4

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Abstract

Lanthanum telluride (La3−x Te4) is a state-of-the-art n-type high temperature thermoelectric material that behaves as a weak and brittle ceramic. Vickers microindentation hardness testing was explored as a rapid analysis technique to characterize the mechanical properties of this material. An indentation size effect was observed with hardness values ranging from 439 ± 31 kgf/mm2 (0.01 kgf/10 s contact time) to 335 ± 6 kgf/mm2 (0.5 kgf/10 s contact time). The Vickers indentation fracture toughness, K VIF, based on measurements of crack lengths emanating from the corners of the Vickers indents was 0.70 ± 0.06 MPa m1/2.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Kevin Smith for experimental assistance and Dr. Sabah K. Bux for helpful discussions. This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This work was supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Technology Advancement Program, the NSF IGERT: Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP) – DGE-0654431, and the California NanoSystems Institute. Copyright 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    James M. Ma, Samad A. Firdosy, Jean-Pierre Fleurial & Vilupanur A. Ravi

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    James M. Ma & Richard B. Kaner

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Richard B. Kaner

  4. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, 91768, USA

    Vilupanur A. Ravi

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  1. James M. Ma
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  4. Jean-Pierre Fleurial
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  5. Vilupanur A. Ravi
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Correspondence to Vilupanur A. Ravi.

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Ma, J.M., Firdosy, S.A., Kaner, R.B. et al. Hardness and fracture toughness of thermoelectric La3−x Te4 . J Mater Sci 49, 1150–1156 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7794-7

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