RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT MATERIALS AND FABRICATION TECHNIQUES FOR THERMOELECTRIC POWER GENERATION.

Abstract

Progress is reported on the design, fabrication and evaluation of a lead teluride thermocouple cartridge. Mg 3 lb 2 preparted in a sealed bomb came within 1 atomic % of exact stoichiometry but contained a lb - Mg 3 lb 2 eutectic concentration of about 1.8% by volume. The room temperature thermal conductivities of several nearly stoichiometric specimens of Mg3Sb2 were measured by the Powell comparator method. The average of seven determinations made on four different specimens was .013 watt/cm degree C, vs. a reported value of about .010 watt/cm degree C for the thermal conductivity of the pure compound. The known volume concentrations of eutectic in the specimens fully account for the discrepancy. The room temperature thermal conductivity of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company TEG-2P p-type PbTe, as measured in the same aparatus, is .023 watt/cm degree C and it can be shown that the value for stoichiometric Mg3Sb2 doped to a resistivity of 0.001 ohm cm would be only about .012 to .013 watt/cm degree C. On this basis, there seems to be reasonable promise that Mg3Sb2 can be developed into a superior p-type thermeoelectric material. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 30, 1962
Accession Number
AD0634477

Entities

Organizations

  • General Electric

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Comparators
  • Conductivity
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Fabrication
  • Manufacturing
  • Materials
  • Minnesota
  • Stoichiometry
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Thermocouples
  • Thermoelectric Power Generation

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.