Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T11:34:55.348Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Syntheses of Ni-doped and Fe-doped CoSb3 Thermoelectric Nanoparticles through Modified Polyol Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Takashi Itoh
Affiliation:
t-itoh@esi.nagoya-u.ac.jp, Nagoya University, EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya, Japan
Keisuke Isogai
Affiliation:
isogai.keisuke@c.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp, Nagoya University, EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya, Japan
Get access

Abstract

Skutterudite CoSb3 compounds are of increasing interest as materials with good thermoelectric performance over the temperature range of 600 to 800 K, but the thermal conductivity of the materials is relatively high. Nanostructured materials have been shown to enhance phonon scattering and lower the thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric materials. Partial substitution of Ni or Fe on the Co site of CoSb3 is a hopeful route for improving thermoelectric performance of the CoSb3 compounds. In the present work, synthesis of Ni-doped and Fe-doped CoSb3 nanoparticles through the modified polyol process was attempted and the optimum synthesizing condition was investigated. Co(OOCH3)2·4H2O, Ni(OOCH3)2·4H2O, FeCl3·6H2O and SbCl3, were prepared as precursors. The precursors were reduced by NaBH4 in tetraethyleneglycol at 513 K in an argon atmosphere, for different reaction times (holding times). The reaction products were characterized by the X-ray diffraction, the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The nanoparticles with about 20 to 30 nm in size mainly existed in the reaction products regardless of the chemical composition and the reaction time. The skutterudite phase was identified as a main phase in the sample synthesized for long reaction time, but the other phases of Sb and MSb2 (M=Co, Ni, Fe) were also detected. The lattice parameter of the synthesized skutterudite phase linearly increased with increasing the doping agent concentration, following Vegard’s law.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Nolas, G. S., Kaeser, M., Littleton, R. T. IV , and Tritt, T. M., Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 1855 (2000).Google Scholar
2 Anno, H., Ashida, K., Matsubara, K., Nolas, G. S., Akai, K., Matsuura, M., and Nagao, J., Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 691, 49 (2002).Google Scholar
3 Sales, B. C., Mandrus, D., and Williams, R. K., Science 272, 1325 (1996).Google Scholar
4 Nolas, G. S., Sharp, J., and Goldsmid, H. J., Thermoelectrics: Basic Principles and New Materials Developments, (Springer Series in Materials Science, Vol. 45), Springer, Berlin (2001), pp178180.Google Scholar
5 Itoh, T., Ishikawa, K., and Okada, A., J. Mater. Res. 22, 249 (2007).Google Scholar
6 Fievet, F., Lagier, J. P., Blin, B., Beaudoin, B., and Figlarz, M., Sol. State Ionics 32, 198 (1989).Google Scholar
7 Cable, R. E., and Schaak, R. E., Chem. Mater. 17, 6835 (2005).Google Scholar
8 Isogai, K., and Itoh, T., Proc. International Symposium on EcoTopia Science 2007 (ISETS07), EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University (2007), pp.155157.Google Scholar
9 Yang, L., Hng, H.H., Cheng, H., Sun, T., and Ma, J., Mater. Lett. 62, 2483 (2008).Google Scholar