Abstract
This work presents a short and very efficient method to produce high performance textured Ca3Co4O9 thermoelectric materials through initial powders modification. Microstructure has shown good grain orientation, and low porosity while slightly lower grain sizes were obtained in samples prepared from attrition milled powders. All samples show the high density of around 96% of the theoretical value. These similar characteristics are reflected in, approximately, the same electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient values for both types of samples. However, in spite of similar power factor (PF) at low temperatures, it is slightly higher at high temperature for the attrition milled samples. On the other hand, the processing time reduction (from 38 to 2 h) when using attrition milled precursors, leads to lower mechanical properties in these samples. All these data clearly point out to the similar characteristics of both kinds of samples, with a drastic processing time decrease when using attrition milled precursors, which is of the main economic importance when considering their industrial production.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Gobierno de Aragón- FEDER (Research Group T 54–17 R), the Spanish MINECO-FEDER (MAT2017-82183-C3-1-R), and Basque Government Industry Department through the Elkartek program (Exp: KK-2017/00099-HiTOM) for financial support. The use of Servicio General de Apoyo a la Investigación- SAI, Universidad de Zaragoza is also acknowledged.
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Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest.
MA Torres obtained a PhD degree in engineering from the University of Zaragoza. Since 2001, he is a Professor at the Dpt. Design and Manufacturing Engineering in the School of Engineering and Architecture in Zaragoza University. His research interests include aspects of thermoelectric and superconducting ceramics and relates mainly to the characterization and measurement of electrical and thermal properties.
María Antonieta Madre Sediles obtained her PhD degree in engineering from the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) with qualification: Cum Laude with Extraordinary Doctorate Award. Since 1991, she is a professor at the Dpt. Materials Science in the School of Engineering and Architecture at Zaragoza University. Her research interests include aspects on thermoelectric and superconducting ceramics, such as texturing by laser techniques, solution chemical synthesis techniques, and mechanical properties.
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Torres, M.A., Garcia, G., Urrutibeascoa, I. et al. Fast preparation route to high-performances textured Sr-doped Ca3Co4O9 thermoelectric materials through precursor powder modification. Sci. China Mater. 62, 399–406 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-018-9339-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-018-9339-1