Inhibition of Lattice Thermal Conductivity of ZrNiSn-based Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Materials by Entropy Adjustment

doi:10.15541/jim20210610

Abstract

Abstract:

The thermoelectric properties of ZrNiSn-based half-Heusler materials were hindered due to their high thermal conductivity. In order to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity, the high-entropy alloys ZrNiSn and Zr_0.5Hf_0.5Ni_1-_xPt_xSn (x=0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3) were prepared by levitation melting and spark plasma sintering. Configurational entropy of the alloys was manipulated by Hf substitution for Zr and Pt substitution for Ni. Effects of configuration entropy on the thermoelectric properties were investigated. The reslults showed that the minimum sum of lattice thermal conductivity and bipolar thermal conductivity (κ_l+κ_b) at 673 K for Zr_0.5Hf_0.5Ni_0.85Pt_0.15Sn was optimized at 2.1 W·m^-1·K^-1, which was significantly reduced by about 58% when compared with ZrNiSn. This finding provides an effective strategy for reducing lattice thermal conductivity of ZrNiSn-based alloy to offer great potential for further improvement of thermoelectrics.

Key words: high entropy, half-Heusler alloy, thermoelectric material, lattice thermal conductivity

CLC Number:

O472

WANG Pengjiang, KANG Huijun, YANG Xiong, LIU Ying, CHENG Cheng, WANG Tongmin. Inhibition of Lattice Thermal Conductivity of ZrNiSn-based Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Materials by Entropy Adjustment[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2022, 37(7): 717-723.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 XRD patterns of ZrNiSn and Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn

Fig. 2 Secondary electron images of Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn (a) x=0; (b) x=0.1; (c) x=0.15; (d) x=0.2; (e) x=0.25; (f) x=0.3

Fig. 3 EPMA elemental mappings of nominal Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni0.85Pt0.15Sn sample

Fig. 4 (a) Temperature dependence of electrical conductivity, (b) room temperature carrier concentration and carrier mobility varied with Pt content, temperature dependence of (c) Seebeck coefficient and (d) power factor of ZrNiSn and Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn

Fig. 5 Temperature dependence of (a) thermal diffusivity and (b) specific heat capacity for ZrNiSn and Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn samples

Fig. 6 (a) Temperature dependence of total thermal conductivity, (b) change of lattice thermal conductivity with configuration entropy at 923 K, (c) temperature dependence of lattice thermal conductivity of Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn (x=0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3), and (d) comparison of lattice thermal conductivity of different samples [17,23-24,35]

Fig. 7 ZT of ZrNiSn and Zr0.5Hf0.5Ni1-xPtxSn samples

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