Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:36:07.496Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

High Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of Boron Carbide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

T. L. Aselage*
Affiliation:
Division 1842, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185-5800
Get access

Abstract

Boron carbides are refractory solids with potential for application as very high temperature p-type thermoelectrics in power conversion applications. The thermoelectric properties of boron carbides are unconventional. In particular, the electrical conductivity is consistent with the thermally activated hopping of a high density (≈ 1021/cm3) of bipolarons; the Seebeck coefficient is anomalously large and increases with increasing temperature; and the thermal conductivity is surprisingly low. In this paper, these unusual properties and their relationship to the unusual structure and bonding present in boron carbides are reviewed. Finally, the potential for utilization of boron carbides at very high temperatures (up to 2200°C) and for preparing n-type materials is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Bouchacourt, M. and Thevenot, F., J. Less-Common Metals, 59, 139 (1978).Google Scholar
2. Aselage, T. and Tissot, R., to be submitted to J. Amer. Ceram. Soc.Google Scholar
3. Makerenko, G. N., in Boron and Refractory Borides, Chapter 7, Matkovich, V. I., ed., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1977.Google Scholar
4. Stoto, T., Housseau, N., Zuppiroli, L., and Kryger, B., J. Appl. Phys., 68, 3198 (1990).Google Scholar
5. Zuppiroli, L., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AIP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
6. Wood, C., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 362, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol.140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
7. Searcy, A. W. and Meschi, D. J., in Thermoelectricity, pp. 164–65, Egli, P. H., ed., Wiley and Sons, New York, 1960.Google Scholar
8. For a general overview, the reader is referred to the two volumes published by the American Institute of Physics cited in Refs. 5 and 6.Google Scholar
9. Zhdanov, G. S. and Sevastyanov, N. G., Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR 32, 832 (1941).Google Scholar
10. Clark, H. K. and Hoard, J. L., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 65, 2115 (1943).Google Scholar
11. Morosin, B., Aselage, T. L., and Feigelson, R. S., in Novel Refractory Semiconductors, MRS Symposia Proceedings Vol.97, Emin, D., Aselage, T. L., and Wood, C. eds., Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, 1987.Google Scholar
12. Emin, D., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 189, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol.140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
13. Aselage, T. L. and Emin, D., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AlP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
14. Emin, D., Phys. Rev. B, 38, 6041, (1988).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Longuet-Higgins, H. C. and Roberts, M. de V., Proc. Royal Soc. London, Ser. A 230, 110 (1955).Google Scholar
16. Bylander, D. M., Kleinman, L., and Lee, S., Phys. Rev. B, 42, 1394 (1990).Google Scholar
17. Wood, C. and Emin, D., Phys. Rev. B, 29, 4582 (1984).Google Scholar
18. Bouchacourt, M. and Thevenot, F., J. Mater. Sci., 20, 1237 (1985).Google Scholar
19. Elsner, N. B., Reynolds, G. H., Norman, J. H., and Shearer, C. H., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 59, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol.140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
20. Aselage, T. L., Tallant, D. R., Gieske, J. H., Van Deusen, S. B., and Tissot, R. G., in The Physics and Chemistry of Carbides. Nitrides. And Borides, pg. 97, NATO ASI Series E Vol 185, Freer, R., ed., Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1990.Google Scholar
21. Wood, C., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 206, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol.140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
22. Emin, D., Physics Today, pg. 2, June, 1982.Google Scholar
23. Venturini, E. L., Azevedo, L. J., Emin, D., and Wood, C., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 292, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol.140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
24. de Rooy, J. C. J. M., Reefman, D., van der Putten, D., Brom, H. B., Aselage, T., and Emin, D., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AlP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
25. Azevedo, L. J., Venturini, E. L., Emin, D., and Wood, C., in Boron-Rich Solids, pg. 288, AlP Conf. Proc. Vol. 140, Emin, D., Aselage, T., Beckel, C., Howard, I., and Wood, C., eds., American Institute of Physics, New York, 1986.Google Scholar
26. Tallant, D. R., Aselage, T. L., Campbell, A. N., and Emin, D., Phys. Rev. B, 40, 5649 (1989).Google Scholar
27. Schwetz, K. and Karduck, P., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AlP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
28. Korman, R., PhD thesis, Rapport CEA-R-5344, Centre d-Etudes Nucleaires de Fontenay-aux-Roses, 1986.Google Scholar
29. Werheit, H., DeGroot, K., and Malkemper, W., J. Less-Common Metals, 82, 153 (1981).Google Scholar
30. Vining, C., Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, unpublished data.Google Scholar
31. Emin, D., Phys. Rev. Lett., 35, 882 (1975).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32. Gieske, J. H., Aselage, T. L., and Emin, D., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AlP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
33. Wood, C., Aselage, T., and Emin, D., manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
34. Wood, C., Emin, D., and Gray, P. E., Phys. Rev. B, 31, 6811 (1985).Google Scholar
35. Medwick, P. A. and Pohl, R. O., presented at March 1991 American Physical Society Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, 1991 (unpublished).Google Scholar
36. Emin, D., in Boron-Rich Solids 1990, AlP Conference Proceedings Series Vol. 231, in press.Google Scholar
37. Hunold, K., Chemie-Technik, 14, 82, (1985).Google Scholar
38. Aselage, T. L., Van Deusen, S. B., and Morosin, B., J. Less-Common Metals, 166, 29 (1990).Google Scholar
39. Halverson, D. C. and Munir, Z. A., Ceram. Eng. Sci. Proc., 7, 1001 (1986).CrossRefGoogle Scholar