Overview

Nano-Mesoscopic Scale Microstructure Regulation for p-Type Skutterudite Thermoelectric Materials

  • Zhiyuan LIU ,
  • Yonggui WANG ,
  • Chengyu ZHAO ,
  • Ting YANG ,
  • Ailin XIA
Expand
  • 1.Key Laboratory of Green Fabrication and Surface Technology of Advanced Metal Materials, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Technology, Ma'anshan 243002, China
    2.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Ma'anshan 243002, China
LIU Zhiyuan, associate professor, Tel: (0555)2311570, E-mail: zhiyuanliu826@ahut.edu.cn

Received date: 2021-11-29

  Revised date: 2022-02-27

  Online published: 2022-05-17

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China(51872006);National Undergraduate Training Programs for Innovation and Entrepreneurship(S202110360181)

Abstract

Skutterudite thermoelectric materials are one of the most promising candidates for critical components in thermoelectric devices because of their excellent electrical transport properties. Thermoelectric devices require p- and n-type skutterudite materials with matching properties. However, the p-type skutterudite materials have considerably worse thermoelectric and mechanical properties than those of n-type. Thus, it is important to enhance the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of p-type skutterudite materials for the development of high-efficiency thermoelectric devices. This study summarizes the recent research progress on the nano-mesoscopic scale regulation of the microstructure for p-type skutterudite thermoelectric materials. The thermoelectric and mechanical properties of p-type skutterudite materials can be notably enhanced by adjusting the microstructure at the nano-mesoscopic scale; thus, providing scientific and technical supports for the thermoelectric device's application.

Cite this article

Zhiyuan LIU , Yonggui WANG , Chengyu ZHAO , Ting YANG , Ailin XIA . Nano-Mesoscopic Scale Microstructure Regulation for p-Type Skutterudite Thermoelectric Materials[J]. Acta Metall Sin, 2022 , 58(8) : 979 -991 . DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2021.00515

References

1 Bell L E. Cooling, heating, generating power, and recovering waste heat with thermoelectric systems [J]. Science, 2008, 321: 1457
2 Snyder G J, Toberer E S. Complex thermoelectric materials [J]. Nat. Mater., 2008, 7: 105
3 Jing H M, Tong X, Zhu J L, et al. Microstructural analysis and thermoelectric properties of skutterudite CoSb3 materials produced by melt spinning and spark plasma sintering [J]. Ceram. Int., 2021, 47: 24916
4 Zhu J L, Tong X, Niu S, et al. Effects of magnetization on thermoelectric transport properties of CoSb3 material [J]. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol. Mater. Sci. Ed., 2021, 36: 353
5 Fleurial J P, Caillat T, Borshchevsky A. Skutterudites: A new class of promising thermoelectric materials [C]. AIP Conf. Proc., 1994, 316: 40
6 Tong X, Liu Z Y, Zhu J L, et al. Research progress of p-type Fe-based skutterudite thermoelectric materials [J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2021, 15: 317
7 Liu Z Y, Zhu W T, Nie X L, et al. Effects of sintering temperature on microstructure and thermoelectric properties of Ce-filled Fe4Sb12 skutterudites [J]. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron., 2019, 30: 12493
8 Rowe D M. CRC Handbook of Thermoelectrics [M]. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1995: 407
9 Takabatake T, Suekuni K, Nakayama T, et al. Phonon-glass electron-crystal thermoelectric clathrates: Experiments and theory [J]. Rev. Mod. Phys., 2014, 86: 669
10 Shi X, Yang J, Salvador J R, et al. Multiple-filled skutterudites: High thermoelectric figure of merit through separately optimizing electrical and thermal transports [J]. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133: 7837
11 Yang J, Zhang W, Bai S Q, et al. Dual-frequency resonant phonon scattering in Ba xRy Co4Sb12 (R = La, Ce, and Sr) [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2007, 90: 192111
12 Shi X, Kong H, Li C P, et al. Low thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit in n-type Ba x Yb y Co4Sb12 double-filled skutterudites [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2008, 92: 182101
13 Rogl G, Grytsiv A, Rogl P, et al. n-type skutterudites (R, Ba, Yb) y -Co4Sb12 (R = Sr, La, Mm, DD, SrMm, SrDD) approaching ZT ≈ 2.0 [J]. Acta Mater., 2014, 63: 30
14 Sales B C, Mandrus D, Williams R K. Filled skutterudite antimonides: A new class of thermoelectric materials [J]. Science, 1996, 272: 1325
15 Zhou L N, Qiu P F, Uher C, et al. Thermoelectric properties of p-type Yb x La y Fe2.7Co1.3Sb12 double-filled skutterudites [J]. Intermetallics, 2013, 32: 209
16 Zhao W Y, Liu Z Y, Sun Z G, et al. Superparamagnetic enhancement of thermoelectric performance [J]. Nature, 2017, 549: 247
17 Liu Z Y, Zhu J L, Wei P, et al. Candidate for magnetic doping agent and high-temperature thermoelectric performance enhancer: Hard magnetic M-type BaFe12O19 nanometer suspension [J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2019, 11: 45875
18 Zhao W Y, Liu Z Y, Wei P, et al. Magnetoelectric interaction and transport behaviours in magnetic nanocomposite thermoelectric materials [J]. Nat. Nanotechnol., 2017, 12: 55
19 Li H, Su X L, Tang X F, et al. Grain boundary engineering with nano-scale InSb producing high performance In x Ce y Co4Sb12 + z skutterudite thermoelectrics [J]. J. Materiomics, 2017, 3: 273
20 Xiong Z, Chen X H, Huang X Y, et al. High thermoelectric performance of Yb0.26Co4Sb12/yGaSb nanocomposites originating from scattering electrons of low energy [J]. Acta Mater., 2010, 58: 3995
21 Zhu J L, Liu Z Y, Tong X, et al. Synergistic optimization of electrical-thermal-mechanical properties of the In-filled CoSb3 material by introducing Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 nanoparticles [J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13: 23894
22 Ghosh S, Shankar G, Karati A, et al. Preferential phonon scattering and low energy carrier filtering by interfaces of in situ formed InSb nanoprecipitates and GaSb nanoinclusions for enhanced thermoelectric performance of In0.2Co4Sb12 [J]. Dalton Trans., 2020, 49: 15883
23 Liu R H, Yang J, Chen X H, et al. p-type skutterudites RxMy -Fe3CoSb12 (R, M = Ba, Ce, Nd, and Yb): Effectiveness of double-filling for the lattice thermal conductivity reduction [J]. Intermetallics, 2011, 19: 1747
24 Prado-Gonjal J, Vaqueiro P, Nuttall C, et al. Enhancing the thermoelectric properties of single and double filled p-type skutterudites synthesized by an up-scaled ball-milling process [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2017, 695: 3598
25 Jie Q, Wang H Z, Liu W S, et al. Fast phase formation of double-filled p-type skutterudites by ball-milling and hot-pressing [J]. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2013, 15: 6809
26 Meng X F, Cai W, Liu Z H, et al. Enhanced thermoelectric performance of p-type filled skutterudites via the coherency strain fields from spinodal decomposition [J]. Acta Mater., 2015, 98: 405
27 Guo L J, Wang G W, Peng K L, et al. Melt spinning synthesis of p-type skutterudites: Drastically speed up the process of high performance thermoelectrics [J]. Scr. Mater., 2016, 116: 26
28 Tan G J, Liu W, Wang S Y, et al. Rapid preparation of CeFe4Sb12 skutterudite by melt spinning: Rich nanostructures and high thermoelectric performance [J]. J. Mater. Chem., 2013, 1A: 12657
29 Li X G, Liu W D, Li S M, et al. Impurity removal leading to high-performance CoSb3-based skutterudites with synergistic carrier concentration optimization and thermal conductivity reduction [J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2021, 13: 54185
30 Rogl G, Grytsiv A, Heinrich P, et al. New bulk p-type skutterudites DD0.7Fe2.7Co1.3Sb12 - xXx (X = Ge, Sn) reaching ZT > 1.3 [J]. Acta Mater., 2015, 91: 227
31 Rogl G, Grytsiv A, Rogl P, et al. Dependence of thermoelectric behaviour on severe plastic deformation parameters: A case study on p-type skutterudite DD0.60Fe3CoSb12 [J]. Acta Mater., 2013, 61: 6778
32 Tan G J, Chi H, Liu W, et al. Toward high thermoelectric performance p-type FeSb2.2Te0.8 via in situ formation of InSb nanoinclusions [J]. J. Mater. Chem., 2015, 3C: 8372
33 Peng S Y, Sun J H, Cui B, et al. Enhanced thermoelectric and mechanical properties of p-type skutterudites with in situ formed Fe3Si nanoprecipitate [J]. Inorg. Chem. Front., 2017, 4: 1697
34 Fu L W, Yang J Y, Jiang Q H, et al. Thermoelectric performance enhancement of CeFe4Sb12 p-type skutterudite by disorder on the Sb4 rings induced by Te doping and nanopores [J]. J. Electron. Mater., 2016, 45: 1240
35 Yu J, Zhao W Y, Zhou H Y, et al. Rapid preparation and thermoelectric properties of Ba and In double-filled p-type skutterudite bulk materials [J]. Scr. Mater., 2013, 68: 643
36 Liu Z Y, Zhu J L, Tong X, et al. A review of CoSb3-based skutterudite thermoelectric materials [J]. J. Adv. Ceram., 2020, 9: 647
37 Dresselhaus M S, Chen G, Tang M Y, et al. New directions for low-dimensional thermoelectric materials [J]. Adv. Mater., 2007, 19: 1043
38 Zhao W Y, Liang Z, Wei P, et al. Enhanced thermoelectric performance via randomly arranged nanopores: Excellent transport properties of YbZn2Sb2 nanoporous materials [J]. Acta Mater., 2012, 60: 1741
39 Rogl G, Rogl P. How nanoparticles can change the figure of merit, ZT, and mechanical properties of skutterudites [J]. Mater. Today Phys., 2017, 3: 48
40 Lu P X, Wu F, Han H L, et al. Thermoelectric properties of rare earths filled CoSb3 based nanostructure skutterudite [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2010, 505: 255
41 Guo L J, Zhang Y M, Zheng Y, et al. Super-rapid preparation of nanostructured Nd x Fe3CoSb12 compounds and their improved thermoelectric performance [J]. J. Electron. Mater., 2016, 45: 1271
42 Liang G X, Zheng Z H, Li F, et al. Nano structure Ti-doped skutterudite CoSb3 thin films through layer inter-diffusion for enhanced thermoelectric properties [J]. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2019, 39: 4842
43 Tan G J, Wang S Y, Li H, et al. Enhanced thermoelectric performance in zinc substituted p-type filled skutterudites CeFe4 - x-Zn x Sb12 [J]. J. Solid State Chem., 2012, 187: 316
44 Katsuyama S, Okada H, Miyajima K. Thermoelectric properties of CeFe3CoSb12-MoO2 composite [J]. Mater. Trans., 2008, 49: 1731
45 Yadav S, Chaudhary S, Pandya D K. Incorporation of MoS2 nanosheets in CoSb3 matrix as an efficient novel strategy to enhance its thermoelectric performance [J]. Appl. Surf. Sci., 2018, 435: 1265
46 Duan F F, Zhang L, Dong J Y, et al. Thermoelectric properties of Sn substituted p-type Nd filled skutterudites [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2015, 639: 68
47 Rao A M, Ji X H, Tritt T M. Properties of nanostructured one-dimensional and composite thermoelectric materials [J]. MRS Bull., 2006, 31: 218
48 Hicks L, Dresselhaus M S. Thermoelectric figure of merit of a one-dimensional conductor [J]. Phys. Rev., 1993, 47B: 16631
49 Yadav S, Chaudhary S, Pandya D K. Enhancing thermoelectric properties of p-type CoSb3 skutterudite by Fe doping [J]. Mater. Sci. Semicon. Process., 2021, 127: 105721.
50 Li J Q, Feng X W, Sun W A, et al. Solvothermal synthesis of nano-sized skutterudite Co4 - x Fe x Sb12 powders [J]. Mater. Chem. Phys., 2008, 112: 57
51 Mi J L, Zhao X B, Zhu T J, et al. Solvothermal synthesis of nanostructured ternary skutterudite Fe0.5Ni0.5Sb3 [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2005, 399: 260
52 Mi J L, Zhao X B, Zhu T J, et al. Solvothermal synthesis and electrical transport properties of skutterudite CoSb3 [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2006, 417: 269
53 Lan Y C, Minnich A J, Chen G, et al. Enhancement of thermoelectric figure-of-merit by a bulk nanostructuring approach [J]. Adv. Funct. Mater., 2010, 20: 357
54 Rogl G, Grytsiv A, Rogl P, et al. Nanostructuring of p- and n-type skutterudites reaching figures of merit of approximately 1.3 and 1.6, respectively [J]. Acta Mater., 2014, 76: 434
55 Bao S Q, Yang J Y, Zhu W, et al. Preparation and thermoelectric properties of La filled skutterudites by mechanical alloying and hot pressing [J]. Mater. Lett., 2006, 60: 2029
56 Bae S H, Lee K H, Choi S M. Effective role of filling fraction control in p-type Ce x Fe3CoSb12 skutterudite thermoelectric materials [J]. Intermetallics, 2019, 105: 44
57 Lee S, Lee K H, Kim Y M, et al. Simple and efficient synthesis of nanograin structured single phase filled skutterudite for high thermoelectric performance [J]. Acta Mater., 2018, 142: 8
58 Lee K H, Bae S H, Choi S M. Phase formation behavior and thermoelectric transport properties of p-type Yb x Fe3CoSb12 prepared by melt spinning and spark plasma sintering [J]. Materials, 2020, 13: 87
59 Shaheen N, Shen X C, Javed M S, et al. Super-fast preparation of Nd-filled p-type skutterudite compounds with enhanced thermoelectric properties [J]. Ceram. Int., 2017, 43: 7443
60 Geng H Y, Zhang J L, He T H, et al. Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of melt spun skutterudite-based thermoelectric materials [J]. Materials, 2020, 13: 984
61 Thompson D R, Liu C, Yang J, et al. Rare-earth free p-type filled skutterudites: Mechanisms for low thermal conductivity and effects of Fe/Co ratio on the band structure and charge transport [J]. Acta Mater., 2015, 92: 152
62 Hopkins P E, Rakich P T, Olsson R H, et al. Origin of reduction in phonon thermal conductivity of microporous solids [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2009, 95: 161902
63 Hsieh T Y, Lin H, Hsieh T J, et al. Thermal conductivity modeling of periodic porous silicon with aligned cylindrical pores [J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2012, 111: 124329
64 Zhang L, Duan F F, Li X D, et al. Intensive suppression of thermal conductivity in Nd0.6Fe2Co2Sb12 - x Ge x through spontaneous precipitates [J]. J. Appl. Phys., 2013, 114: 083715
65 He Q Y, Hu S J, Tang X G, et al. The great improvement effect of pores on ZT in Co1 - x Ni x Sb3 system [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2008, 93: 042108
66 Faleev S V, Léonard F. Theory of enhancement of thermoelectric properties of materials with nanoinclusions [J]. Phys. Rev., 2008, 77B: 214304
67 Li J F, Liu W S, Zhao L D, et al. High-performance nanostructured thermoelectric materials [J]. NPG Asia Mater., 2010, 2: 152
68 Yamini S A, Wang H, Ginting D, et al. Thermoelectric performance of n-type (PbTe)0.75(PbS)0.15(PbSe)0.1 composites [J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2014, 6: 11476
69 Sootsman J, Kong H J, Uher C, et al. Large enhancements in the thermoelectric power factor of bulk PbTe at high temperature by synergistic nanostructuring [J]. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47: 8618
70 Heremans J P, Wiendlocha B, Chamoire A M. Resonant levels in bulk thermoelectric semiconductors [J]. Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5: 5510
71 Yang J H, Yip H L, Jen A K Y. Rational design of advanced thermoelectric materials [J]. Adv. Energy Mater., 2013, 3, 549
72 Li J H, Tan Q, Li J F, et al. BiSbTe-based nanocomposites with high ZT: The effect of SiC nanodispersion on thermoelectric properties [J]. Adv. Funct. Mater., 2013, 23: 4317
73 Katsuyama S, Okada H. Synthesis of rare earth filled skutterudite composite with dispersed oxide particles by mechanical milling and SPS techniques and investigation of its thermoelectric properties [J]. J. Jpn. Soc. Powder. Powder. Metall., 2007, 54: 375
74 Zhang L, Grytsiv A, Kerber M, et al. MmFe4Sb12- and CoSb3-based nano-skutterudites prepared by ball milling: Kinetics of formation and transport properties [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2009, 481: 106
75 Zhou H Y, Zhao W Y, Zhu W T, et al. Preparation and enhanced thermoelectric properties of p-type BaFe12O19/CeFe3CoSb12 magnetic nanocomposite materials [J]. J. Electron. Mater., 2014, 43: 1498
76 Schmitz A, Schmid C, de Boor J, et al. Dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in skutterudites and its effect on thermoelectric and mechanical properties [J]. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 2017, 17: 1547
77 Zong P A, Mao Z D, Ou Y X, et al. Enhanced thermoelectric properties of binary CoSb3 by embedding FeCl3-intercalated graphene nanosheets [J]. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2021, 41: 6523
78 Zhou C, Sakamoto J, Morelli D. Low-temperature thermoelectric properties of Co0.9Fe0.1Sb3-based skutterudite nanocomposites with FeSb2 nanoinclusions [J]. J. Electron. Mater., 2011, 40: 547
79 Zhou C, Sakamoto J, Morelli D. High-temperature thermoelectric properties of p-type Yb-filled skutterudite nanocomposites with FeSb2 nanoinclusions [J]. J. Electron. Mater., 2012, 41: 1030
80 Guo L J, Cai Z W, Xu X L, et al. Raising the thermoelectric performance of Fe3CoSb12 skutterudites via Nd filling and in-situ nanostructuring [J]. J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol., 2016, 16: 3841
81 Benyahia M, Vaney J B, Leroy E, et al. Thermoelectric properties in double-filled Ce0.3In y Fe1.5Co2.5Sb12 p-type skutterudites [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2017, 696: 1031
82 Tan G J, Zheng Y, Tang X F. High thermoelectric performance of nonequilibrium synthesized CeFe4Sb12 composite with multi-scaled nanostructures [J]. Appl. Phys. Lett., 2013, 103: 183904
83 Ravi V, Firdosy S, Caillat T, et al. Mechanical properties of thermoelectric skutterudites [C]. AIP Conf. Proc., 2008, 969: 656
84 Wan S, Huang X Y, Qiu P F, et al. The effect of short carbon fibers on the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of p-type CeFe4Sb12 skutterudite composites [J]. Mater. Des., 2015, 67: 379
85 Zong P A, Chen L D. Preparation and mechanical properties of Ce0.85Fe3CoSb12/rGO thermoelectric nanocomposite [J]. J. Inorg. Mater., 2017, 32: 33
85 宗鹏安, 陈立东. Ce 0.85Fe3CoSb12/rGO热电纳米复合材料的制备及其力学性能 [J]. 无机材料学报, 2017, 32: 33
86 Rogl G, Grytsiv A, Failamani F, et al. Attempts to further enhance ZT in skutterudites via nano-composites [J]. J. Alloys Compd., 2017, 695: 682
87 Wen P F, Mei H, Zhai P C, et al. Effects of nano-α-Al2O3 dispersion on the thermoelectric and mechanical properties of CoSb3 composites [J]. J. Mater. Eng. Perform., 2013, 22: 3561
88 Fan Y C, Igarashi G, Jiang W, et al. Highly strain tolerant and tough ceramic composite by incorporation of graphene [J]. Carbon, 2015, 90: 274
Outlines

/