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High Thermoelectric Performance of Dually Doped ZnO Ceramics

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A marked improvement in the thermoelectric performance of dense ZnO ceramics is achieved by employing a third element as a co-dopant with Al. Dual doping of ZnO with Al and Ga results in a drastic decrease in the thermal conductivity of the oxide, while the decrease in the electrical conductivity is relatively small. With the aid of a significant enhancement in the thermopower, the dually doped oxide shows thermoelectric figure of merit values, ZT, values of 0.47 at 1000 K and 0.65 at 1247 K at the composition Zn0.96Al0.02Ga0.02O. These results appear to be the highest ZT values so far reported for bulk n-type oxides. Microscopic observation of the samples reveals a granular texture in the densely sintered oxide matrix, suggesting that considerable reduction of the thermal conductivity while maintaining high electrical conductivity could be achieved by such a bulk nanocomposite structure in the samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Material Sciences, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, 6-1 Kasugakouen, Kasuga, Fukuoka, 816-8580, Japan

    Michitaka Ohtaki, Kazuhiko Araki & Kiyoshi Yamamoto

  2. CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan

    Michitaka Ohtaki

Authors
  1. Michitaka Ohtaki
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  2. Kazuhiko Araki
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  3. Kiyoshi Yamamoto
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Correspondence to Michitaka Ohtaki.

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Ohtaki, M., Araki, K. & Yamamoto, K. High Thermoelectric Performance of Dually Doped ZnO Ceramics. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 1234–1238 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0816-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0816-1

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