Abstract
Factors affecting variations of properties of sintered thermoelements have been discovered and their effects investigated.
It is thought that many correlative factors affect the thermoelectric properties of sintered thermoelements. First, eight factors were taken into consideration from which five effective factors were selected by the statistical method. Then, their effects on specific resistivity ρ, thermoelectric power α, and α2⁄ρ were investigated for specimens of the N-type Bi2Te3 doped with AgI. The results obtained are as follows: The values of ρ and |α| of elements from the powder produced in air are lower than in nitrogen. As the time required for the powder production and the holding time of green compacts becomes longer, both ρ and |α| decrease. These results show that as the production process becomes more advantageous for the powder oxidation, ρ and |α| in the sintered elements decrease. Consequently, the oxidation of the powder is thought to be the main cause of the property variations in the sintered elements.
