Tailoring the thermoelectric properties of Skutterudites by nanocomposites

Abstract

Skutterudites have attracted great attention for their promising potential on thermoelectric applications, such as harvesting the heat generated in industrial processes and automotive operations. To improve their thermoelectric figure of merit ,emphasis has gone into modifying the band structure through doping to enhance the Power Factor and reducing thermal conductivity through increasing phonon scattering by filling and in-situ nanocomposites formation.Depending on the nature of the nanoinclusions and the proportion in the matrix, it is possible to tailor the thermoelectric properties. In this work, different concentrations of oxides were included in a one-step synthesis mechanism, obtaining the Skutterudite phase with nanoinclusions and therefore, achieving lower thermal conductivities than those reported in literature.