THERMOELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF GRAPHITE INTERCALATION COMPOUNDS

摘要

Graphite intercalation compounds, GICs, have high electrical conductivities, large Seebeck coefficients and low thermal conductivities; therefore their performance as thermoelectric materials is high compared with their host graphite. At present, although the electrical conductivities of GICs, as thermoelectric materials, are sufficiently high, their Seebeck coefficients are rather small and their thermal conductivities are too high. As a result, the thermoelectric performance of GICs is not high, as evaluated based on the figure of merit. However, they are comparable to those of other thermoelectric materials, as evaluated based on the power factor. In order to further improve the thermoelectric performance of GICs, it is necessary to increase their Seebeck coefficients and decrease their thermal conductivities.