Reprocessing Leading to Lower Thermal Conductivity of ZnO Thermoelectrics

  • D. S. Tucker EM32, Marshall Space Flight Center, MSFC, Alabama, USA.
  • A. O'Connor School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
  • C. Romnes Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, Mexico.
  • C. Hill EM32, Marshall Space Flight Center, MSFC, Alabama, USA.
  • X. Zhou Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
  • G. Thompson Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
Keywords: Thermoelectric, oxide, thermal conductivity, reprocessing, direct current sintering

Abstract

Nanometer sized ZnO powder was co-doped with gamma aluminum oxide and gallium oxide and sintered using a direct current sintering furnace. Sintered samples were reprocessed by crushing the samples in a Carver press, then milling for 4 hours. The reprocessed samples were then re-sintered in the direct current sintering furnace. Heat capacity, density and thermal diffusivity were measured in order to determine thermal conductivity as a function of temperature. Thermoelectric properties were measured. It was found that the thermal conductivity decreased from 7 W/m K to 3.5 W/m K at 805K by using the reprocessing technique. It is projected that the value will be less than 2 W/m K and the figure of merit greater than 0.65 at 1400K.

Published
2020-01-16
How to Cite
Tucker, D. S., O’Connor, A., Romnes, C., Hill, C., Zhou, X., & Thompson, G. (2020). Reprocessing Leading to Lower Thermal Conductivity of ZnO Thermoelectrics. New Advances in Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 2, 90-96. Retrieved from https://stm1.bookpi.org/index.php/namse-v2/article/view/889
Issue
New Advances in Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 2
Section
Chapters