Issue 40, 2015

Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

Abstract

The development of reliable bonding materials for PbTe-based thermoelectric modules that can undergo long-term operations at high temperature is carried out. Two cost-effective materials, Cu and Ag, are isothermally hot-pressed to PbTe-based thermoelectric materials at 550 °C for 3 h under a pressure of 40 MPa by the rapid hot-pressing method. Scanning electron microscopy, electron probe micro-analysis, and X-ray diffraction analysis are employed to identify intermetallic compounds, chemical reactions, and microstructure evolution after the initial assembly and subsequent isothermal aging at 400 °C and 550 °C. We find that Cu diffuses faster than Ag in PbTe. Neither Cu nor Ag is a good bonding material because they both react vigorously with Pb0.6Sn0.4Te. In order to be able to use Cu electrodes, it would be necessary to insert a diffusion barrier to prevent Cu diffusion into PbTe.

Graphical abstract: Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 Jun 2015
Accepted
06 Aug 2015
First published
06 Aug 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 10590-10596

Interfacial reactions between PbTe-based thermoelectric materials and Cu and Ag bonding materials

C. C. Li, F. Drymiotis, L. L. Liao, H. T. Hung, J. H. Ke, C. K. Liu, C. R. Kao and G. J. Snyder, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 10590 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC01662B

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