Silicon-based thermoelectrics made from a boron-doped silicon dioxide nanocomposite

Matthew L. Snedaker, Yichi Zhang, Christina S. Birkel, Heng Wang, Tristan Day, Yifeng Shi, Xiulei Ji, Stephan Kraemer, Carolyn E. Mills, Armin Moosazadeh, Martin Moskovits, G. Jeffrey Snyder, Galen D. Stucky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report a method for preparing p-type silicon germanium bulk alloys directly from a boron-doped silica germania nanocomposite. This is the first successful attempt to produce and characterize the thermoelectric properties of SiGe-based thermoelectric materials prepared at temperatures below the alloy's melting point through a magnesiothermic reduction of the silica-germania nanocomposite. We observe a thermoelectric power factor that is competitive with the literature record obtained for high energy ball milled nanocomposites. The large grain size in our hot pressed samples limits the thermoelectric figure of merit to 0.5 at 800 C for an optimally doped Si80Ge20 alloy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4867-4873
Number of pages7
JournalChemistry of Materials
Volume25
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 23 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • germania
  • magnesiothermic reduction
  • silica
  • silicon germanium
  • thermoelectrics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Chemical Engineering
  • Materials Chemistry

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