Thermoelectricity of nanocomposites containing TiO2-CoO coaxial nanocables

TiO2-CoO coaxial nanocables were deposited into anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanoporous templates to form nanocomposite materials. Electron microscopic analysis was conducted to reveal their structures. Seebeck coefficients of the composites were measured. The highest absolute value of Seebeck coefficient is 393 mu V K-1 for the TiO2 nanotube-filled AAO. The TiO2-CoO coaxial nanocable-filled AAO has a lower absolute value of 300 mu V K-1. Both composites showed n-type behavior. The effect of Ag nanoparticles addition on the thermoelectric behavior was also examined. (C) 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.