Abstract
Magnesium Silicide (Mg_2Si), a nontoxic and low density material, is one of attractive tharmalelectric (TE) material that could enable devices to operate at temperatures ranging from 500 K to 900 K. In this study, we fabricated sintered pellets of Sb-doped Mg_2Si with four different metallic binders (Ni, Cu, Zn, Al) by the Plasma Activated Sintering (PAS). Then, the basic mechanical properties, Young's modulus and fracture toughness, of the fabricated Mg_2Si were measured using ultrasonic test, and indentation fracture method. The ultrasonic test results showed that Young's modulus was increased by incorporation of the metallic binders. This should be because the incorporated binders have filled voids in Mg_2Si, and the density of the specimen was increased. The fracture toughness of specimens without binder was measured about 1.2MPa m^<1/2>. For the specimens with binder, the toughness values were slightly higher than that for no-binder specimen. These results suggest that incorporation of metal binders improves the mechanical properties of Mg_2Si.
