Microwave synthesis and characterization of the series Co(1-x )Fe(x)Sb(3) high temperature thermoelectric materials

The use of microwave energy for materials processing has a major potential and real advantages over conventional heating such as (1) time and energy savings, (2) rapid heating rates (volumetric heating vs. conduction), (3) considerably reduced processing time and temperature, (4) fine microstructures and hence improved mechanical properties and better product performance, and (5) finally lower environmental impact. In this study, we investigated the use of microwave-assisted synthesis to synthesize a series of Co1-x Fe x Sb3 using this novel approach, which gave high quality materials with little or no impurities in a fraction of the time needed for conventional synthesis. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to examine the structure and the lattice parameters of the samples, while scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy was used to study the morphology of the compounds. The samples were sintered by spark plasma sintering, and the highest Z T of 0.33 was obtained for x = 0.2 at 700 K.