Volume 7 Issue 1 (March 2020)

Pages 1-6

Simultaneous Enhancement in the Electrical Conductivity and Reduction in the Lattice Thermal Conductivity Leading to Enhanced Thermoelectric ZT Realized by Incorporation of Metallic Nanoparticles into Oxide Matrix

Shinji Hirata, Michitaka Ohtaki

[ABSTRACT ]

Nanoporous Fe3O4composites containing metallic Cu nanoparticles were synthesized by reducing-leaching
treatment of CuFe2O4precursor. Thermoelectric properties of the composites sintered at 1270 ºC greatly
improved compared with Fe3O4without Cu, presumably due to a nanoporous structure and the Cu nanoparticles
remaining in the Fe3O4matrix after acid leaching. The electrical and thermal conductivity indicate that Cu in the
matrix promotes the electron conduction and suppresses the phonon conduction, improving the dimensionless
figure-of-merit, ZT.

Keywords: thermoelectrics; nanocomposites; metallic nanoparticles; nanoporous structure; phonon scattering; oxides