Optimized thermoelectric performance driven by A-site deficient in SrxLa0.1TiO3/Ti composites

Abstract

Abstract For thermoelectric applications at high temperatures, perovskite SrTiO3 is a promising contender as an n-type oxide thermoelectric (TE) material. In this work, SrxLa0.1TiO3/Ti composite ceramics were successfully synthesized by solid state reaction with a combination of the A-site cation vacancy and fabricating composite. Through XRD and SEM analysis, a complex microstructure composed of two kinds of titanium oxides was formed after reductive sintering and annealing. In addition, controlling the content of Sr vacancies in the SrxLa0.1TiO3 matrix increased the thermoelectric power factor by optimizing the weighted mobility in the composite, resulting in the highest power factor PF of 425.8 µWm− 1K− 2 and the maximum ZT of 0.16 for the Sr0.875La0.1TiO3/Ti composite through the synergistic optimization of electrical and thermal transport properties. The strategy proposed in this study of design A-site-deficient composites with nano-sized metal paved a new way to fabricate high performance oxide thermoelectric materials.