Abstract
Multifilling with La, Ba, Ga, and Ti in p-type skutterudite and Yb, Ca, Al, Ga, and In in n-type skutterudite remarkably reduces their thermal conductivity, resulting in enhancement of their dimensionless figure of merit ZT to ZT = 0.75 for p-type (La,Ba,Ga,Ti)1(Fe,Co)4Sb12 and ZT = 1.0 for n-type (Yb,Ca,Al,Ga,In)0.7(Co,Fe)4Sb12. A thermoelectric module technology suitable for these skutterudites including diffusion barrier and electrode materials has been established. The diffusion barrier materials allow the electrode to coexist stably with the p/n skutterudites in the module’s working temperature range of room temperature to 600°C. Under conditions of hot/cold-side temperatures of 600°C/50°C, a skutterudite module with size of 50 mm × 50 mm × 7.6 mm exhibited generation performance of 32 W power output and 8% thermoelectric conversion efficiency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
G.A. Slack, CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics, ed. D.M. Rowe (Boca Raton, FL: Chemical Rubber, 1995), pp. 407–440.
T. Caillat, A. Borshchevsky, and J.P. Fleurial, J. Appl. Phys. 80, 4442 (1996).
B.C. Sales, D. Mandrus, and R.K. Williams, Science 272, 1325 (1996).
G.S. Nolas, M. Kaeser, R.T. Littleton IV, and T.M. Tritt, Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 1855 (2000).
G.A. Lamberton Jr., R.H. Tedstrom, T.M. Tritt, and G.S. Nolas, J. Appl. Phys. 97, 113715 (2005).
X.Y. Zhao, X. Shi, L.D. Chen, W.Q. Zhang, S.Q. Bai, Y.Z. Pei, X.Y. Li, and T. Goto, Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 092121 (2006).
M. Puyet, B. Lenoir, A. Dauscher, M. Dehmas, C. Stiewe, and E.J. Müller, Appl. Phys. 95, 4852 (2004).
X.Y. Zhao, X. Shi, L.D. Chen, W.Q. Zhang, W.B. Zhang, and Y.Z. Pei, J. Appl. Phys. 99, 053711 (2006).
J.S. Dyck, W. Chen, C. Uher, L.D. Chen, X.F. Tang, and T.J. Hirai, J. Appl. Phys. 91, 3698 (2002).
Y.Z. Pei, L.D. Chen, S.Q. Bai, X.Y. Zhao, and X.Y. Li, Scripta Mater. 56, 621 (2007).
X.F. Tang, Q.J. Zhang, L.D. Chen, T. Goto, and T. Hirai, J. Appl. Phys. 97, 093712 (2005).
D. Berardan, E. Alleno, C. Godart, M. Puyet, B. Lenoir, R. Lackner, E. Bauer, L. Girard, and D. Ravot, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 033710 (2005).
Q.M. Lu, J.X. Zhang, Y.Q. Liu, D.M. Liu, and M.L. Zhou, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 106107 (2005).
X.F. Tang, H. Li, Q.J. Zhang, M. Niino, and T. Goto, J. Appl. Phys. 100, 123702 (2006).
X. Shi, J. Yang, J.R. Salvador, M.F. Chi, J.Y. Cho, H. Wang, S.Q. Bai, J.H. Yang, W.Q. Zhang, and L.D. Chen, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 7837 (2011).
J.Q. Guo, H.Y. Geng, S. Ochi, H.K. Kim, H. Hyodo, and K. Kimura, Proceedings of 26th (2007) International Conference on Thermoelectrics, IEEE, ISBN 978-1-4244-2262-3, ISSN 1094-2734, p. 183.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guo, J.Q., Geng, H.Y., Ochi, T. et al. Development of Skutterudite Thermoelectric Materials and Modules. J. Electron. Mater. 41, 1036–1042 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-012-1958-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-012-1958-0