Issue 40, 2015

Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

Abstract

The development of reliable bonding materials for PbTe-based thermoelectric modules that can undergo long-term operations at high temperature is carried out. Two cost-effective materials, Cu and Ag, are isothermally hot-pressed to PbTe-based thermoelectric materials at 550 °C for 3 h under a pressure of 40 MPa by the rapid hot-pressing method. Scanning electron microscopy, electron probe micro-analysis, and X-ray diffraction analysis are employed to identify intermetallic compounds, chemical reactions, and microstructure evolution after the initial assembly and subsequent isothermal aging at 400 °C and 550 °C. We find that Cu diffuses faster than Ag in PbTe. Neither Cu nor Ag is a good bonding material because they both react vigorously with Pb0.6Sn0.4Te. In order to be able to use Cu electrodes, it would be necessary to insert a diffusion barrier to prevent Cu diffusion into PbTe.

Graphical abstract: Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Jūn. 2015
Accepted
06 Aug. 2015
First published
06 Aug. 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 10590-10596

Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

C. C. Li, F. Drymiotis, L. L. Liao, H. T. Hung, J. H. Ke, C. K. Liu, C. R. Kao and G. J. Snyder, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 10590 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC01662B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements