2002 Volume 43 Issue 7 Pages 1719-1723
Boron suboxide (B6O) sintered bodies were prepared by a solid state reaction and a hot pressing method. The thermoelectric properties of B6O were compared with those of B4C. The electrical conductivity was smaller than that of B4C, and the Seebeck coefficient was twice as large as that of B4C indicating p-type conduction. The hopping conduction of electronic charge carriers was suggested from the temperature dependencies of the electrical conductivity and mobility. The thermal conductivity was greater than that of B4C. The thermoelectric dimension-less figure-of-merit increased with increasing temperature, and was 0.62×10−3 at 1000 K. This value was almost in agreement with that of B4C.
