Thermoelectric Property of A-Site Deficient Zn0.5Rh2O4

摘要

@@ Introduction Thermoelectric materials have been attracted for recycling energy in exhausting heat by thermal-electric conversion effect, which can be closely used and be considered as a new energy resource in human lives. The thermal-electric conversion efficiency is represented by a dimensionless figure of merit: ZT=S2a T/K, where S, a and K are Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity, respectively. Accordingly, thermoelectric materials should be designed with higher S, a and lower K. According to the classical semiconductor theory, heavily doped semiconductors having carrier concentrations (n) of ~ 1019 cm3 are candidates for high-ZT materials [1], but metallic materials are not. Thus the discovery of large S (~ 100 |JY/K at 300 K) in NaxCoO2, showing metallic a with n of ~ 1021 cm3, has attracted much attention for its origin of high ZT [2].