Date/Time
Date(s) - 12/07/2022
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Please join us for a hybrid seminar delivered by PhD Candidate Timothy Lo.

Title: Thermoelectric Studies on the Zn – Sb Phases

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Time: 1:30-2:30

Room: ABB A204

Zoom: Please contact chemgrad@mcmaster.ca for Zoom details. 

Host: Yurij Mozharivskyj

Abstract: This work is dedicated to investigating the thermoelectric properties of the Zn – Sb phases and particularly the Zn₁₃Sb₁₀ material, which was shown to achieve a high zT (1.3 at 670K) in 1997. The Zn₁₃Sb₁₀ material (known as “Zn₄Sb₃”) was then extensively studied as a potential thermoelectric material. The Zn₁₃Sb₁₀ materials, however, were not widely adapted in thermoelectric applications.

A new synthetic procedure was developed to synthesize phase-pure Zn₁₃Sb₁₀ materials in this thesis, thus allowing a robust characterization of the Zn₁₃Sb₁₀-based materials. This work aims to improve the thermoelectric performance of the Zn₁₃Sb₁₀-based materials by substituting foreign elements into the structure of the Zn₁₃Sb₁₀ phase, at the same time characterize and navigate the synthesis-property-composition relationship of the doped Zn₁₃Sb₁₀materials.

On the other hand, some relative Zn–Sb phases such as the ?- and ?-Zn₃Sb₂were also studied in attempt to complete the characterizations of all Zn–Sb phases stable at room temperatures. The ZnSb phase, another well-studied Zn–Sb material, was investigated in coherence with the Zn₁₃Sb₁₀materials to understand the effects to transport properties brought by the same atom replacement in the two systems. This was realized in the form of a comparison between the (Zn,Cd)Sb and (Zn,Cd)₁₃Sb₁₀ solid solution series.