Enhanced high-temperature thermoelectric properties of Ce- and Dy-doped ZnO for power generation

摘要

The incorporation of CeO_2 and Dy_2O_3 to ZnO leads to a marked increase in the electrical conductivity. The absolute values of the Seebeck coefficients of Zn_(1-x)Ce_xO and Zn_(1-x)Dy_xO increase with CeO_2 and Dy_2O_3 contents up to x = 0.003 and 0.005, respectively, and then decrease with further increases of their concentrations. The highest power factor (4.46 × 10~(-4) Wm~(-1) K~(-2) at 800 ℃) is attained for Zn_(0.995)Dy_(0.005)O. The power factor is approximately 56 times larger than that of ZnO (0.08 × 10~(-4)Wm~(-1) K ~(-2) at 800 ℃). The introduction of a small amount of Dy_2O_3 is highly effective for improving the thermoelectric properties of ZnO.