Ultra rapid fabrication of p-type Li-doped Mg2Si0.4Sn0.6 synthesized by unique melt spinning method

In this work, we successfully synthesized p-type Mg2(1-x)Li2xSi0.4Sn0.6 (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.07, 0.09) samples using a home-made melt spinning system combined with spark plasma sintering. Compared with the samples prepared by a traditional method, the processing time is reduced from typically several days to less than one hour. It is found that the electrical conductivity rises rapidly with the increase of Li content owing to the enhanced carrier density, while the Seebeck coefficient decreases concomitantly to some extent. Meanwhile, Li doping dramatically reduces the thermal conductivity, leading to an enhanced figure of merit Zr similar to 0.58 at 760 K. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.