Thermoelectric properties of bismuth-silica nanocomposites

Author

Brochin, F. ; Lenoir, B. ; Devaux, X. ; Scherrer, H.

Author_Institution

Lab. de Phys. des Mater., CNRS, Nancy, France

fYear

1999

fDate

Aug. 29 1999-Sept. 2 1999

Firstpage

390

Lastpage

393

Abstract

Bulk bismuth-silica nanocomposites have been prepared via powder metallurgy to study the influence of silica inclusions on the transport properties of Bi-based materials. Bi-SiO/sub 2/ ultrafine powders were produced by an arc-plasma processing. TEM investigations revealed the presence of a nanometric silica shell around each Bi grain. The nanocomposite powders were cold pressed and sintered close to the melting temperature of bismuth. The electrical resistivity was measured from 5 K to 300 K, the thermoelectric power, the thermal conductivity and the thermoelectric figure of merit were measured from 65 K to 300 K. The transport properties of pure single crystalline and polycrystalline bismuth are compared to those of nanocomposite materials.

Keywords

bismuth; composite materials; inclusions; nanostructured materials; silicon compounds; sintering; thermoelectric power; transmission electron microscopy; 5 to 300 K; 65 K; Bi-SiO/sub 2/; Bi-SiO/sub 2/ ultrafine powders; TEM; arc-plasma processing; cold pressed; electrical resistivity; nanocomposites; powder metallurgy; sintered; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric figure of merit; thermoelectric power; thermoelectric properties; Bismuth; Conductivity measurement; Electric variables measurement; Inorganic materials; Nanocomposites; Powders; Power measurement; Silicon compounds; Thermal conductivity; Thermoelectricity;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Thermoelectrics, 1999. Eighteenth International Conference on

Conference_Location

Baltimore, MD, USA

ISSN

1094-2734

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5451-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICT.1999.843412

Filename

843412