Skutterudite (CoSb3) thermoelectric nanomaterials fabricated by Pulse Plasma in Liquid

In this work, we present a new fabrication method of thermoelectric nanomaterials using Pulsed Plasma in Liquid (PPL) with a low-energy spark discharge. Thermoelectric (TE) materials can be used for direct energy conversion from heat into electricity. They are of particular interest as a result of enabling both clean energy transformation and waste heat energy harvesting. The efficiency of the conversion process depends on the Carnot cycle and the material’s properties, described by the thermoelectric figure-of-merit (ZT). This parameter is based on electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity. One can increase the ZT value by reducing the thermal conductivity e.g. through the nano-structuring of TE materials and, at the same time, conserving their electrical properties. CoSb3, which is a state-of-the-art TE material from the skutterudite family known as a narrow-band gap semiconductor with a parabolic bottom of the conduction band, was studied in the present work.