Author(s)

Kensuke Ozawa¹, Hirofumi Kakemoto², Hiroshi Irie^1,2*

¹Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan.
²Clean Energy Research Center, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan.

Silver (Ag) and silver antimonate (AgSbO₃) composites with different amounts of Sb³⁺ were synthesized by normal sintering with the aim of realizing a thermoelectric material. The electrical conductivity (σ) increased in the sample containing larger amount of Sb³⁺, whereas Seebeck coefficient (S) decreased. Producing Sb³⁺ caused the generation of oxygen vacancies in the material, and thus the corresponding donor levels are created in the bandgap, providing more conduction electrons. The conductive Ag particles would contribute to the conduction path as bypasses for carrier transport. The thermal conductivity (κ) was slightly lower in the presence of Ag defects in AgSbO₃.

Thermoelectric Material, Silver Antimonate, Seebeck Coefficient, Electrical Conductivity, Thermal Conductivity

Ozawa, K. , Kakemoto, H. and Irie, H. (2017) Thermoelectric Properties of Silver Antimonate with Mixed Valency of Antimony. Journal of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, 5, 121-128. doi: 10.4236/msce.2017.51016.