High Temperature Interfacial Stability of Fe/Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 Thermoelectric Elements

doi:10.15541/jim20200126

Abstract

Abstract:

The high temperature interfacial stability of thermoelectric (TE) elements, which is mainly evaluated by the inter-diffusion and interfacial resistivity at the interface between the barrier layer and the TE material, is one of the key factors determining the service performance and application prospects of TE devices. In this study, a screening method based on high-throughput strategy was employed to further improve the interfacial stability of P-type bismuth telluride TE devices, and Fe was proved the preferred barrier layer material for P-type Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ (P-BT). Then Fe/P-BT TE elements were prepared by one-step sintering. Evolution of the Fe/P-BT interfacial microstructure during high temperature accelerated aging was systematically studied, and stability of the interfacial resistivity was explored. It is found that during aging, the Fe/P-BT interface is well bonded and the composition of the ternary Fe-Sb-Te diffusion layer remains basically unchanged. The diffusion layer thickness increases linearly with the square root of the aging time and the growth activation energy is 199.6 kJ/mol. The initially low interfacial resistivity of the Fe/P-BT interface increases slowly with the prolonged aging time but remains below 10 μΩ·cm² even after 16 d at 350 ℃. The life prediction based on the interfacial diffusion kinetics indicates that Fe is a suitable barrier layer material for Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ TE elements.

Key words: thermoelectric element, bismuth telluride, barrier layer, interfacial diffusion, interfacial resistivity

CLC Number:

TQ174

WANG Xu, GU Ming, LIAO Jincheng, SONG Qingfeng, SHI Xun, BAI Shengqiang, CHEN Lidong. High Temperature Interfacial Stability of Fe/Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃Thermoelectric Elements[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2021, 36(2): 197-202.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig. 1 Low magnification SEM images of the micro-interfaces in the as-prepared co-sintered sample for screening of the barrier layer materials (a) Cr, Fe, Co, Ti; (b) Al, Zr

Fig. 2 Surface mapping of the micro-interfaces between P-BT matrix and 6 barrier layer candidate particles aged at 300 ℃ for 2 d

Fig. 3 (a) Interfacial microstructure of the as-prepared Fe/P-BT TE element before aging and (b) line scanning of the as-prepared Fe/P-BT interface

Fig. 4 Cross sectional microstructures of the Fe/P-BT interface after aging at different temperatures for different time (a) 275 ℃, 4 d; (b) 275 ℃, 9 d; (c) 350 ℃, 4 d; (d) 350 ℃, 9 d

Fig. 5 (a) Variation of the diffusion layer thickness at the Fe/P-BT interface with the square root of aging time at 300, 325 and 350 ℃, and (b) variation of lnD with 1000/T between 300 and 350 ℃

Fig. 6 Evolution of the Fe/P-BT interfacial resistivity with aging time at 350 ℃

Temperature/ ℃	D/(×10^-18, m²∙s^-1)	(Y-Y₀)/μm	Predicted service life*/d
300	7.29	2.7×10^-3t^0.5	428
325	65.1	8.1×10^-3t^0.5	52
350	203.1	14.3×10^-3t^0.5	16

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High Temperature Interfacial Stability of Fe/Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃Thermoelectric Elements

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