Thermoelectric properties of carbon nanotube/ceramic nanocomposites

Thermoelectric properties of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT)/ceramic nanocomposites produced by spark-plasma-sintering have been investigated in this study. The thermoelectric power of the composites increases with increasing temperature, showing a p-type value of 50.4 mu V/K at 644 K that is comparable to that of pure SWNT. The SWNT/3Y-TZP composite has a figure of merit (ZT) of similar to 0.02 at 850 K, indicating potential for use as a thermoelectric material. It would be very promising if CNT/ceramic composites with ZT > 1 could be attained by improving the electrical conductivity of the composites while maintaining or enhancing high thermopower through selecting the ratio of pure metallic to semiconducting CNTs. (c) 2005 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.