Preparation and thermoelectric properties of Bi-doped Mg2Si 0.8Sn0.2 compound

Abstract

The Bi-doped Mg2Si0.8Sn0.2 single phase compound is prepared by a solid state reaction (SSR)-spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The effect of the Bi content on the thermoelectric properties of the Bi-doped Mg2Si0.8Sn0.2 compound is mainly investigated. The results show that the thermoelectric properties of the obtained samples are sensitive to the Bi content. With the increase in Bi content, the electrical conductivity (σ) and Seebeck coefficient (α) of the samples are increased, while the thermal conductivity (κ) is decreased slightly between 300 K and 850 K. When the Bi content is greater than 3.0 at%, the sample shows a maximum figure of merit (ZT) value (1.17 ± 0.05) at 850K. © 2010 The Japan Institute of Metals.