Crystal Structure and Thermoelectric Properties of Lightly Vanadium-Substituted Higher Manganese Silicides (Mn1-x V x )Si γ )

To further enhance the thermoelectric (TE) properties of higher manganese silicides (HMSs), dissipation of layered precipitates of MnSi phase as well as optimization of hole carrier concentration are critical. We have prepared a lightly vanadium-substituted solid solution of HMS, (Mn1-x V (x) )Si (gamma) , by a melt growth method. A 2% substitution of manganese with vanadium is found to dissipate MnSi precipitates effectively, resulting in a substantial increase in the electrical conductivity from 280 S/cm to 706 S/cm at 800 K. The resulting TE power factor reaches 2.4 mW/K-2-m at 800 K, more than twice that of the V-free sample. The total thermal conductivity did not change significantly with increasing x owing to a reduction of the lattice contribution. As a consequence, the dimensionless figure of merit zT of the melt-grown samples increased from 0.26 +/- 0.01 for x = 0 to 0.59 +/- 0.01 for x = 0.02 at around 800 K.