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On the Challenges of Reducing Contact Resistances in Thermoelectric Generators Based on Half-Heusler Alloys

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Abstract

A method using fast hot pressing to join half-Heusler (HH) thermoelectric materials directly to an electrical current collector (Ag electrode) without using a third filler material is introduced. The compositions of the HH alloys used are Hf0.5Zr0.5CoSn0.2Sb0.8 and Ti0.6Hf0.4NiSn for p- and n-type, respectively. Using this method, the quality of the HH–electrode contacts is improved due to their low electrical contact resistance and less reaction–diffusion layer. The microstructure and chemical composition of the joints were examined using a scanning electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. The electrical characteristics of the interfaces at the contacts were studied based on electrical contact resistance and Seebeck scanning microprobe measurements. In this paper, we show that joining the HH to a Ag electrode directly using fast hot pressing resulted in lower contact resistance and better performance compared with the method of using active brazing filler alloy.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support from Copenhagen Cleantech Cluster for the research work (in Project 48062 X-CCC) and the Programme Commission on Energy and Environment (EnMi), which is part of the Danish Council for Strategic Research (Contract No. 10-093971), for sponsoring the research of the OTE-Power Project. We thank Professor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen for providing access to the potentional Seebeck microprobe Panco, which is sponsored by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF93). Benjamin Balke gratefully acknowledges the financial support by the DFG Priority Program 1386 “Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials” under proposal BA 4171/2-2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, 399 Frederiksborgvej, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Pham Hoang Ngan, Ngo Van Nong, Le Thanh Hung, Li Han, Søren Linderoth & Nini Pryds

  2. Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudingerweg 9, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Benjamin Balke

  3. Department of Chemistry, Center for Materials Crystallography, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    Ellen Marie Jensen Hedegaard

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  1. Pham Hoang Ngan
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  2. Ngo Van Nong
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  3. Le Thanh Hung
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  4. Benjamin Balke
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  5. Li Han
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  6. Ellen Marie Jensen Hedegaard
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  7. Søren Linderoth
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  8. Nini Pryds
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Correspondence to Pham Hoang Ngan.

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Ngan, P.H., Van Nong, N., Hung, L.T. et al. On the Challenges of Reducing Contact Resistances in Thermoelectric Generators Based on Half-Heusler Alloys. J. Electron. Mater. 45, 594–601 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4156-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4156-z

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