Journal Article

The effect of Sr addition on the electrical properties of BaZn sub(2)Sb sub(2) Zintl compounds

Cai, K F, Wang, H F, Chen, S

2014

Overview

Sr doped BaZn sub(2)Sb sub(2) polycrystalline materials with nominal compositions of Ba sub(1-x)Sr sub(x)Zn sub(2)Sb sub(2) (x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.5) were prepared by synthesizing single crystals using a Sn-flux method followed by vacuum melting. The materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy equipped with electron energy dispersive spectroscopy, respectively. The electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the materials from room temperature to 773 K were measured. The electrical conductivity of all the materials decreased with increasing temperature and turned to increase with increasing temperature when temperature is above ~600 K, while the Seebeck coefficient increased with increasing temperature and turned to decrease with increasing temperature when temperature is above ~580 K. The electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient both increased after doping Sr into BaZn sub(2)Sb sub(2). The maximum power factor for the sample with nominal composition of Ba sub(0.5)Sr sub(0.5)Zn sub(2)Sb sub(2) reached 10.67 mu W cm super(-1) K super(-2), which was about five times as high as that of the pure BaZn sub(2)Sb sub(2).

• Subject: Coefficients