Nano ZrO2/CoSb3composites with improved thermoelectric figure of merit

Nano ZrO2/CoSb3 composites with different ZrO2 contents were prepared using hot pressing. The phase purity, the microstructure and the temperature-dependent transport parameters of the composites were investigated. The dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of 0.18 of the non-dispersed CoSb3 preponderates the maximal value (0.17) of pure CoSb3 reported in the literature, which is attributed to the prepared sample having higher electrical conductivity due to the existence of a small amount of metallic Sb and lower thermal conductivity due to the fine-grained structure. Compared to non-dispersed CoSb3, a further improvement of 11% on ZT (0.20) was achieved in the composite with 0.05ZrO2 inclusions, which resulted from the enhanced ratio of electrical conductivity to thermal conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient. The nanodispersion method provides an effective approach to improving a material’s thermoelectric properties and performance.