Thermoelectric properties of Al-doped Mg2Si1-xSnx (x ≤ 0.1)

The thermoelectric properties of Al-doped Mg2Si1-xSnx(x = 0.0-0.1) [Mg2Si1-xSnxAl = 1:y (0.00 <= y <= 0.02)] fabricated by spark plasma sintering have been characterized by Hall effect measurements at 300 K and by measurements of electrical resistivity (rho), the Seebeck coefficient (S). and thermal conductivity (kappa) between 300 and 900K. Al-doped Mg2Si1-xSnx samples are n-type in the measured temperature range. By Al-doping, electron concentration is controlled up to 5.3 x 10(19) cm(-3) in the composition range 0.0 <= x <= 0.1. Al-doped Mg2Si0.9Sn0.1 shows a maximum value of the figure of merit ZT of 0.68 at 864 K, which is 6 times larger than that of nondopcd Mg2Si0.9Sn0.1. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.