Thermoelectric properties of spark-plasma sintered nanoparticular FeSb ₂ prepared via a solution chemistry approach

Nanoparticular FeSb₂ was prepared in solution from cyclopentadienyl iron(ii) dicarbonyl dimer [Fe(Cp(CO)₂)]₂ and antimony nanoparticles. Spark plasma sintering was used as consolidation method to maintain the particle size. The thermoelectric performance of FeSb₂ is limited by its high thermal conductivity. In this work, the thermal conductivity was suppressed by nearly 80% compared to the bulk value by introducing grain boundary scattering of phonons on the nanoscale. The thermoelectric properties of the consolidated FeSb₂ emphasize the possibility of altering thermal transport of promising thermoelectric compounds by phonon scattering by engineering the interfaces at the nanoscale.