Thermoelectric properties of BaUO3

The thermoelectric properties of BaUO3 were evaluated in the temperature range from room temperature to about 1000 K. In order to clarify the phonon glass property of BaUO3, the heat conduction mechanism were also studied. The electrical resistivity was higher by approximately four orders of magnitude than that of the state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials. The Seebeck coefficient was negative in the whole temperature range, and the maximum absolute value bore comparison with the currently used thermoelectric materials. The thermal conductivity was extremely low and like glasses in spite of its simple crystal structure, indicating that BaUO3 has a phonon glass property. The heat conduction of BaUO3 was mainly composed by the phonon contribution at low temperatures and the excitonic contribution at high temperatures. The dimensionless figure of merit ZT was extremely lower than that of the state-of-the-art thermoelectric materials. In order to utilize BaUO3 as an actual thermoelectric module, optimization of the electrical properties are required. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.