Enhanced thermoelectric performance of n-type Si80Ge20P3-TiO2 composites
摘要
Thermoelectric materials, such as SiGe alloys, have gained significant attention for their application in electricity generation at high temperatures. However, improving the thermal and electrical transport properties of n-type SiGe remains a challenge. In this work, n-type Silicon-Germanium alloys (SiGe) with dispersed nano-TiO2 particles (Si80Ge20P3-x wt% nano-TiO2, x = 0, 3, 4, 5, 6) were synthesized by ball milling followed by spark plasma sintering. The effects of nano-TiO2 particles on the electrical and thermal transport properties were investigated. The power factor of n-type SiGe alloys dispersed nano-TiO2 particles was slightly decreased. However, the thermal conductivity had a significant reduction because of enhanced phonon scattering resulted from the multi-dimensional defect features. Coherent interfaces formed between SiGe alloys and nano-TiO2 particles can generate phonon scattering in the range of medium to long wavelength. A dimensionless figure-of-merit (zT) of 1.64 at 1073 K was obtained in the sample of Si80Ge20P3-4 wt% nano-TiO2, which is 40% higher than the Si80Ge20P3 alloy. This work provides a new approach to optimizing the thermoelectric performance and promoting the potential applications.