Modification of thermoelectric performance by incorporation of reduced graphene oxide & indium in α-MgAgSb

Abstract

In the search of new strategies to decrease the lattice thermal conductivity of the existing thermoelectric materials, recently, new materials with intrinsically low thermal conductivities which are common feature of their weak chemical bonding have been discovered. α-MgAgSb with impurities was previously reported to have very low thermal conductivity in low temperature range. Despite its relatively low thermal conductivity, its thermoelectric performance needs to be improved to be considered a potential candidate alongside Bi2Te3 for power generation applications at low temperatures. The concept of composite materials and also introducing alloying elements have been increasingly applied for the significant improvement in thermoelectric performance. In this study, we synthesized rGO-incorporated and In-doped MgAgSb to investigate their effect on thermoelectric properties of α-MgAgSb. We revealed the microstructure and thermoelectric properties and their interconnection.