About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
Mesoscale Phenomena in Functional Polycrystals and Nanostructures
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural Characterization of Artificial Interfacial Solids for High ZT Thermoelectrics |
| Author(s) |
Sarshad Rommel, Ovijit Das, Benjamin Greenberg, Kevin Anderson, James Wollmershauser, Boris Feigelson, David Drabold, Serge Nakhmanson, Mark Aindow |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Sarshad Rommel |
| Abstract Scope |
A novel environmentally controlled pressure-assisted sintering (EC-PAS) technique has been recently developed at NRL to fabricate bulk ceramics with extremely fine grain sizes. Core-shell nanoparticles have been sintered with EC-PAS to produce bulk-ceramic artificial interface solids (AIS) with core-shell microstructure preserved in bulk. Thermoelectric materials with AIS microstructure are expected to possess superior thermoelectric properties due to the spatial decoupling of thermal and electrical transport properties at the nanoscale, associated with the properties of cores and shells, respectively. Characterization of microstructural features of these solids, such as porosity, core-shell interfaces, chemical segregation and nature of grain boundaries, is essential for understanding and predicting the aggregate thermoelectric properties of AIS nanocomposites. Here we present the results of microstructural characterization of AIS through HRTEM and STEM experiments. A protocol for producing FIB-based TEM specimens for successful imaging of such features in ceramic nanocomposites will also be discussed. |