ELECTROCAL, THERMAL, THERMOELECTRIC AND RELATED PROPERTIES OF MAGNESIUM SILICIDE SEMICONDUCTOR PREPARED FROM RICE HUSK

Polycrystalline, 1 0 mum size magnesium silicide was prepared by alloying 99.9% purity polycrystalline silicon obtained from rice husk ash and high-purity magnesium powder. The material in sintered pellet form was characterized for its structural, electrical, thermal, thermoelectric and other properties. A typical sintered pellet exhibited a room-temperature (30-degrees-C) thermoelectric power of 565 muV K - 1 and an electrical resistivity of 35 OMEGA cm. On the other hand, the material was found to be thermally quite stable up to 650-degrees-C with a room-temperature thermal conductivity of 6.3 x 10(-3) - 3 cal s - 1 cm - 1 K - 1 (2.6 J s - 1 m - 1 K - 1). These properties of the material indicate that the material can find potential applications as a thermoelectric generator and in other semiconductor devices. Furthermore, an indigenous technology for large-scale production of silanes (SiH4) can be developed using this Mg2Si which could be prepared in large quantities by a simple and low-cost process.