Interaction of Skutterudites with Contact Materials: A Metallurgical Analysis

• Published in: Journal of phase equilibria and diffusion Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 365 - 377
• Main Authors: Grytsiv, Andriy, Rogl, Gerda, Bauer, Ernst, Rogl, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-08-2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ceramics; Composites; Crystal structure; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; Diffusion barriers; Engineering Thermodynamics; Glass; Heat and Mass Transfer; Heat treatment; Mechanical properties; Metallic Materials; Metallurgical analysis; Natural Materials; Phase composition; Phase equilibria; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Site preference (crystals); Substitution reactions; Thermodynamics; Thermomechanical properties; skutterudites; intermetallics; electron probe microanalysis (EPMA); phase diagram; diffusion couples
• ISSN: 1547-7037; 1863-7345; 1934-7243
• DOI: 10.1007/s11669-020-00799-0

More than hundred diffusion couples between p- and n-type skutterudites and various materials were prepared and interaction zones were investigated after heat treatment at 600 °C for 1100 h. The constitution of reaction/diffusion zones was discussed in terms of: (a) atom site preference in the skutterudite lattice, (b) phase equilibria in multicomponent systems and (c) particularities of the crystal structure of intermediate phases. It could be shown that phase composition and thermo-mechanical properties of bonding can be engineered by chemical substitution. The results obtained allowed the determination of several necessary criteria for the development of chemically and mechanically stable diffusion barriers/couples for skutterudite based thermoelectric (TE) modules.