The effect of an AlN additive on the thermoelectric properties of SiC ceramics was studied. Porous SiC ceramics with 48-54% relative density were fabricated by sintering the pressed a-SiC powder compacts with AlN at 2100-2200˚C for 3 h in an Ar atmos...
The effect of an AlN additive on the thermoelectric properties of SiC ceramics was studied. Porous SiC ceramics with 48-54% relative density were fabricated by sintering the pressed a-SiC powder compacts with AlN at 2100-2200˚C for 3 h in an Ar atmosphere. In the undoped specimens, the Seebeck coefficients were positive (p-type semiconducting) possibly due to a dominant effect of the acceptor impurities (Al, Fe) contained in the starting powder. With AlN addition, the reverse phase transformation of 6H-SiC to 4H-SiC was observed during the sintering process. The electrical conductivity of the AlN doped specimen was larger than that of the undoped specimen under the same conditions, which might be due to a reverse phase trans-formation. The Seebeck coefficient of the AlN doped specimen was also larger than that of the undoped specimen. The density of specimen and the amount of addition had significant effects on the thermoelectric properties.