Enhanced thermoelectric performance in aluminum-doped zinc oxide by porous architecture and nanoinclusions

As a promising thermoelectric material, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) exhibits high thermal conductivity, which limits its use in high-temperature thermoelectric applications. Here, we report an effective route for forming a porous architecture and nanoinclusions by introducing nano-SiC to reduce the thermal conductivity. The simultaneous formation of a porous architecture and nanoinclusions promotes enhanced phonon scattering, resulting in fairly low thermal conductivity of approximately 3.3 W? m- 1? K-1. Meanwhile, the Seebeck coefficient shows the significant improvement due to energy filtration effect caused by porous architecture and nanoinclusions. The resultant dimensionless figure of merit of approximately 0.2 at 1050 K was 1.5 times higher than that of AZO ceramic without nano-SiC, which is attributed to the combined factors of increased Seebeck coefficient and reduced thermal conductivity.

Automated summary

An effective approach of introducing nano-SiC to form a porous architecture and nanoinclusions can reduce the thermal conductivity of AZO material, promoting enhanced phonon scattering and increasing the Seebeck coefficient, thus improving the thermoelectric performance.