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Article

Investigation on the Power Factor of Skutterudite Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12 Thin Films: Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature

by
Giovanna Latronico
1,*,
Paolo Mele
1,
Cristina Artini
2,3,
Pietro Manfrinetti
2,
Sian Wei Pan
4,
Yukihiro Kawamura
4,
Chihiro Sekine
4,
Saurabh Singh
5,
Tsunehiro Takeuchi
5,
Takahiro Baba
6,
Cédric Bourgès
6 and
Takao Mori
6
1
Shibaura Institute of Technology, Omiya Campus, 307 Fukasaku, Minuma-ku, Saitama City 337-8570, Saitama, Japan
2
Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy
3
Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy, National Research Council, CNR-ICMATE, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy
4
Muroran Institute of Technology, 27-1 Mitsumoto-cho, Muroran 050-8585, Hokkaido, Japan
5
Toyota Technological Institute, 2-12-1 Hisakata Tenpaku, Nagoya 468-8511, Aichi Perefecture, Japan
6
International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Namiki 1-1, Tsukuba 305-0044, Ibaraki, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2021, 14(19), 5773; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195773
Submission received: 31 August 2021 / Revised: 21 September 2021 / Accepted: 26 September 2021 / Published: 2 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Thin Films and Interfaces)
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Abstract

Filled skutterudites are currently studied as promising thermoelectric materials due to their high power factor and low thermal conductivity. The latter property, in particular, can be enhanced by adding scattering centers, such as the ones deriving from low dimensionality and the presence of interfaces. This work reports on the synthesis and characterization of thin films belonging to the Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12-filled skutterudite system. Films were deposited under vacuum conditions by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method on fused silica substrates, and the deposition temperature was varied. The effect of the annealing process was studied by subjecting a set of films to a thermal treatment for 1 h at 423 K. Electrical conductivity σ and Seebeck coefficient S were acquired by the four-probe method using a ZEM-3 apparatus performing cycles in the 348–523 K temperature range, recording both heating and cooling processes. Films deposited at room temperature required three cycles up to 523 K before being stabilized, thus revealing the importance of a proper annealing process in order to obtain reliable physical data. XRD analyses confirm the previous result, as only annealed films present a highly crystalline skutterudite not accompanied by extra phases. The power factor of annealed films is shown to be lower than in the corresponding bulk samples due to the lower Seebeck coefficients occurring in films. Room temperature thermal conductivity, on the contrary, shows values comparable to the ones of doubly doped bulk samples, thus highlighting the positive effect of interfaces on the introduction of scattering centers, and therefore on the reduction of thermal conductivity.
Keywords: thermoelectricity; skutterudites; thin films; pulsed laser deposition; power factor; thermal conductivity thermoelectricity; skutterudites; thin films; pulsed laser deposition; power factor; thermal conductivity

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MDPI and ACS Style

Latronico, G.; Mele, P.; Artini, C.; Manfrinetti, P.; Pan, S.W.; Kawamura, Y.; Sekine, C.; Singh, S.; Takeuchi, T.; Baba, T.; et al. Investigation on the Power Factor of Skutterudite Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12 Thin Films: Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature. Materials 2021, 14, 5773. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195773

AMA Style

Latronico G, Mele P, Artini C, Manfrinetti P, Pan SW, Kawamura Y, Sekine C, Singh S, Takeuchi T, Baba T, et al. Investigation on the Power Factor of Skutterudite Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12 Thin Films: Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature. Materials. 2021; 14(19):5773. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195773

Chicago/Turabian Style

Latronico, Giovanna, Paolo Mele, Cristina Artini, Pietro Manfrinetti, Sian Wei Pan, Yukihiro Kawamura, Chihiro Sekine, Saurabh Singh, Tsunehiro Takeuchi, Takahiro Baba, and et al. 2021. "Investigation on the Power Factor of Skutterudite Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12 Thin Films: Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature" Materials 14, no. 19: 5773. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195773

APA Style

Latronico, G., Mele, P., Artini, C., Manfrinetti, P., Pan, S. W., Kawamura, Y., Sekine, C., Singh, S., Takeuchi, T., Baba, T., Bourgès, C., & Mori, T. (2021). Investigation on the Power Factor of Skutterudite Smy(FexNi1−x)4Sb12 Thin Films: Effects of Deposition and Annealing Temperature. Materials, 14(19), 5773. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195773

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