Sintering and annealing effects on ZnO microstructure and thermoelectric properties

The influence of different thermal treatments on zinc oxide has been investigated regarding the thermal diffusivity and structural properties of doped and undoped samples. ZnO powders having various grain sizes and morphologies, with or without aluminum doping, have been prepared under different temperatures by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The microstructural properties and thermal diffusivities of the prepared samples have been measured before and after annealing treatments in air at 800 °C. In undoped samples, the crystallite sizes increased after the annealing treatments, while it was retained in the Al-doped samples. The thermal diffusivities, microstrain and degree of preferred orientation were affected by the SPS temperature and the annealing; however, the general trends were retained after the annealing treatments. Lower maximum temperature yielded a lower degree of preferred orientation, less microstrain, higher density of grain boundaries, lower thermal diffusivities and, for Al-doped samples, lower electrical conductivity and a difference in zT-values from 0.2 to 0.3 at 800 °C. Calculations of the wavelengths and mean free paths of the phonons that contribute to the main part of the thermal conductivity have been conducted and reveal that nanostructures <12 nm are required to lower the thermal conductivity by quantum confinement.