Thermally stable thermoelectric Zn4Sb3 by zone-melting synthesis

Abstract

High-temperature thermoelectric properties of the double-perovskite ruthenium oxide (Sr1−xLax)2ErRuO6 J. Appl. Phys. 112, 073714 (2012) Thermoelectric properties of n-type Mn3−xCrxSi4Al2 in air J. Appl. Phys. 112, 073713 (2012) Thermoelectric effect in a graphene sheet connected to ferromagnetic leads J. Appl. Phys. 112, 073712 (2012) Thermoelectric properties of p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te2.7Se0.3 fabricated by high pressure sintering method J. Appl. Phys. 112, 073708 (2012) Dimensional crossover of charge density wave and thermoelectric properties in CeTe2−xSbx single crystals

Composition and the thermoelectric performance of β-Zn4Sb3

“…1, is stable from 250-673 K. 13 A multitude of synthetic routes have been employed to produce b-Zn 4 Sb 3 , including quenching from the melt, 7,14,15 mechanical alloying of the elements, 13 flux-growth, 16 zone melting, 17 reactive hot-pressing, 18 sinter-forging 19 and gradient freeze methods.…”

Thermal Stability of High Performance Thermoelectric β‐Zn4Sb3 in Argon

“…[5] Iversen and co-workers reported the instability of the material even below 500 K with formation ZnSb, ZnO and elemental Sb as degradation products. [11] An onset temperature of 469 K was reported by Erk et al in the study of metastable nanocrystalline Zn 4 Sb 3 . [12] It has been shown that β-Zn 4 Sb 3 synthesised by thermal quenching decomposes very substantially when heated in atmospheric air, [11] whereas material synthesised by zone melting exhibits a remarkable stability.…”

“…[11] An onset temperature of 469 K was reported by Erk et al in the study of metastable nanocrystalline Zn 4 Sb 3 . [12] It has been shown that β-Zn 4 Sb 3 synthesised by thermal quenching decomposes very substantially when heated in atmospheric air, [11] whereas material synthesised by zone melting exhibits a remarkable stability. [11,13] Since the properties of β-Zn 4 Sb 3 synthesized by thermal quenching and by zone melting are different, it follows that the crystal structures and/or microstructure of the two materials must be different.…”

“…[12] It has been shown that β-Zn 4 Sb 3 synthesised by thermal quenching decomposes very substantially when heated in atmospheric air, [11] whereas material synthesised by zone melting exhibits a remarkable stability. [11,13] Since the properties of β-Zn 4 Sb 3 synthesized by thermal quenching and by zone melting are different, it follows that the crystal structures and/or microstructure of the two materials must be different. The decomposition in air is problematic if the material is to be used in an actual thermoelectric device, but the reported zT values could still be valid since high temperature properties typically are measured in argon or vacuum.…”

Advances in Thermoelectric Energy Conversion Nanocomposites

“…Just due to the complex Zn interstitial structure, Zn 4 Sb 3 possesses a higher ZT value to a large extent on accounts of lower lattice thermal conductivity which is less than 1 Wm·K. It is reported that Zn 4 Sb 3 can be fabricated using solid state reaction (Cadavid & Rodríguez, 2008), conventional quench method and zone-melting technique etc (Pedersen & Iversen, 2008). Only the Zn 4 Sb 3 fabricated by the last method is more thermal stable for more promising applications.…”