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Enhancement of Electrical Properties of the Thermoelectric Compound Ca3Co4O9 through Use of Large-grained Powder

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Abstract

Hot-forged Ca3Co4O9 (Co349) ceramics were synthesized using large-grained powders prepared by a flux-growth method, and their thermoelectric properties and degree of grain alignment were evaluated. Neutron-diffraction experiments evidenced the effect of grain size on the development of the c-axis grain alignment. The optimum grain size was around 7 μm in our hot-forging method. The electrical resistivity (ρ) in the direction parallel to the pressed-plane was more reduced at higher degrees of orientation. Since ρ was reduced without lowering the Seebeck coefficient (S), the power factor (PF = S2/ρ) of the Co349 sample was improved and reached 0.8 mW/mK2 at 1073 K using Co349 grains with average size of around 7 μm. The thermal conductivity (κ) in the direction parallel to the pressed-plane slightly increased with the increase of the grain size, however the improvement of PF owing to use of large-grained powder outweighed this negative impact on the κ component of the thermoelectric figure of merit (Z = S2/ρκ).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ikeda, Osaka, 563-8577, Japan

    Masashi Mikami, Emmanuel Guilmeau & Ryoji Funahashi

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

    Masashi Mikami, Emmanuel Guilmeau & Ryoji Funahashi

  3. Osaka Electro-Communication University, Neyagawa, Osaka, 572-0833, Japan

    Kangji Chong

  4. CRISMAT-ENSICAEN Laboratory, UMR CNRS 6508, 14050, Cean Cedex, France

    Damiel Chateigner

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  1. Masashi Mikami
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  2. Emmanuel Guilmeau
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  3. Ryoji Funahashi
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  4. Kangji Chong
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  5. Damiel Chateigner
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Correspondence to Masashi Mikami.

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Mikami, M., Guilmeau, E., Funahashi, R. et al. Enhancement of Electrical Properties of the Thermoelectric Compound Ca3Co4O9 through Use of Large-grained Powder. Journal of Materials Research 20, 2491–2497 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2005.0298

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2005.0298

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