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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 January 2020
Fused deposition modelling (FDM) type of 3D printing is widely used for manufacturing complex shaped polymer products. Recently, the metal/polymer composite products can be made by 3D printer using metal/polymer composite filament. Now, we are planning to develop a new manufacturing process of the thermoelectric (TE) elements or modules by combining the FDM-type 3D printing and the degreasing-sintering process. In this work, we focused on the degreasing-sintering process of the mixture of Mg2Si and polylactic acid (PLA) powders. Mg2Si compound powder was synthesized by a liquid-solid phase reaction (LSPR) method. The powder mixtures of Mg2Si, Al and PLA were pressed and heated in a pulse discharge sintering (PDS) chamber under a vacuum in various degreasing conditions. Following the degreasing, the sintering of Mg2Si was carried out in the same PDS chamber at various starting sintering temperatures. Sintered density, Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity of the consolidated Mg2Si were measured and the power factor as a TE performance was estimated from the TE properties. The optimum conditions of degreasing-sintering process maximizing the sintered density and the TE performance of Al-doped Mg2Si were investigated. Furthermore, the influences of the additive amount of Al on the sintered density and the TE performance of Mg2Si fabricated via the optimized degreasing-sintering process were investigated.