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Miscibility gap and thermoelectric properties of ecofriendly Mg2Si1−xSnx (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) solid solutions by flux method

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2011

Luxin Chen ,
Guangyu Jiang ,
Yi Chen ,
Zhengliang Du ,
Xinbing Zhao ,
Tiejun Zhu ,
Jian He  and
Terry M. Tritt
Luxin Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Guangyu Jiang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Yi Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Zhengliang Du
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Xinbing Zhao
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Tiejun Zhu*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, People’s Republic of China
Jian He
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, South Carolina 29634-0978
Terry M. Tritt
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, South Carolina 29634-0978
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Mg2Si1−xSnx compounds are promising as “environmentally friendly” thermoelectric (TE) materials. For years, investigations of the TE properties of these compounds have been hindered by the poor reproducibility in sample preparation. In this work, we used a recently developed simple B2O3 flux method to prepare Mg2Si1−xSnx compounds over a wide composition range (0.1 ≤x≤ 0.8). The phase structure, microstructure, and TE properties have been investigated. We found that a miscibility gap existed at 0.2 ≤x≤ 0.45, substantially lower than the more generally accepted values 0.4 ≤x≤ 0.6, and a low lattice thermal conductivity of 1.4 W·m−1·K−1 in undoped Mg2Si0.55Sn0.45, which led to a ZT ∼0.3 at 550 K. These results constitute a solid basis for investigating further optimization of the Mg2Si1−xSnx-based TE materials via doping and possibly nanostrucuring approaches.

Keywords

ThermoelectricElectrical propertiesThermal conductivity
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 26 , Issue 24 , 28 December 2011 , pp. 3038 - 3043
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2011

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