An alternative composite approach to tailor the thermoelectric performance in SiAlON and SiC

Abstract

The thermoelectric properties of SiAlON and SiC based composites prepared by adding TiCN (5 and 10 vol.%) as a particulate or as a segregated three-dimensional network were investigated. Although the volume fraction of the TiCN phase was the same in both kinds of SiAION-based composites, the one containing the segregated three-dimensional network exhibited larger power factor and higher figure of merit than the particle-reinforced composite. Such an enhancement was not observed in SiC. This outcome highlights the importance of the microstructure design and indicates that the segregated network approach may be an effective method to tailor the thermoelectric properties of composite systems