Thermoelectric properties of porous n-type {\text{Fe}}_{{\text{0}}{\text{.94}}} {\text{Co}}_{{\text{0}}{\text{.06}}} {\text{Si}}_{\text{2}} compounds prepared by pressureless sintering

The effects of bulk porosity on the thermoelectric properties of porous n-type ${\text{Fe}}_{{\text{0}}{\text{.94}}} {\text{Co}}_{{\text{0}}{\text{.06}}} {\text{Si}}_{\text{2}} $ compounds prepared by pressureless sintering were examined. A small amount of metallic phase ?-FeSi remained after annealing at 800 °C for 100 h. As the sintering temperature increased from 1150 to 1175 °C, the phase transition to β-FeSi₂ during annealing occurred more rapidly. The porous specimen, sintered at 1150 °C for 2 h with coarse powders (<45 μm) and then annealed at 800 °C for 100 h, showed the highest Seebeck coefficient of $ - 363_{\mu } {VK}^{ - {1}} $ at 400 °C and the highest power factor of ${\text{1}}{\text{.57}} \times 10^{ - 3} {\text{Wm}}^{ - 1} {\text{K}}^{ - 2} $ at 400 °C.