Zakharchuk, K.V.K.V.ZakharchukTobaldi, D.M.D.M.TobaldiXiao, X.X.XiaoXie, W.W.XieMikhalev, S.M.S.M.MikhalevMartins, J.F.J.F.MartinsFrade, J.R.J.R.FradeWeidenkaff, A.A.WeidenkaffKovalevsky, A.V.A.V.Kovalevsky2022-03-062022-03-062019https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/26275510.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2018.11.0292-s2.0-85057040300This work aims to explore zirconium as a possible dopant to promote thermoelectric performance in bulk ZnO-based materials, both within the single-doping concept and on simultaneous co-doping with aluminum. At 1100-1223 K mixed-doped samples demonstrated around ∼2.3 times increase in ZT as compared to single-doped materials, reaching ∼0.12. The simultaneous presence of aluminum and zirconium imposes a synergistic effect on electrical properties provided by their mutual effects on the solubility in ZnO crystal lattice, while also allowing a moderate decrease of the thermal conductivity due to phonon scattering effects. At 1173 K the power factor of mixed-doped Zn0.994Al0.003Zr0.003O was 2.2-2.5 times higher than for single-doped materials. Stability tests of the prepared materials under prospective operation conditions indicated that the gradual increase in both resistivity and Seebeck coefficient in mixed-doped compositions with time may partially compensate each other to maintain a relatively high power factor.enjournal article