Thermal conductivity of the ternary compounds: AgMTe2 and AgM5Te8 (M = Ga or In)

Abstract

We synthesized AgGaTe2, AgGa5Te8, AgInTe2, and AgIn5Te8 by solid-state reactions of Ag2 Te, Ga2Te3 or In2Te 3, and Te, and prepared their high-density polycrystalline pellets. The thermal conductivity Kwas evaluated by the laser flash method from room temperature to around 870 K. These compounds exhibited low K,e.g. the room temperature values were 1.94,0.54,2.05, and 1.08 Wm-1 K-1 for AgGaTe2, AgGa5Te8, AgInTe2, and AgIn5Te8, respectively. We discussed the magnitude relations of K from the viewpoints of the crystal structure and the Debye temperature. ©2009 The Thermoelectrics Society of Japan.