Thermoelectric Properties of n-Type Half-Heusler Compounds Synthesized by the Induction Melting Method

The n-type Hf0.25Zr0.25Ti0.5NiSn0.998Sb0.002 Half-Heusler (HH) alloy composition was prepared by using the induction melting method in addition to the mechanical grinding, annealing, and spark plasma sintering processes. Analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated the formation of a pure phase HH structured compound. The electrical and thermal properties at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 718 K were investigated. The electrical conductivity increased with increasing temperatures and demonstrated nondegenerate semiconducting behavior, and a large reduction in the thermal conductivity to the value of 2.5 W/mK at room temperature was observed. With the power factor and thermal conductivity, the dimensionless figure of merit was increased with temperature and measured at 0.94 at 718 K for the compound synthesized by the induction melting process.