Transport Properties of NaCuO2 Thermoelectric Material

We synthesized a thermoelectric material NaCuO2 by taking analytical grade NaO and CuO in stoichiometric ratio by solid state reaction method at 1173K. Morphological and Compositional Analysis were carried by SEM and EDAX. Thermopower, Electrical and Thermal Conductivity measurements were carried from room temperature to 773K. SEM analysis showed that the sample is polycrystalline, with small but well-formed crystals. EDAX profile confirmed stoichiometry of the sample. It was observed that Thermopower increases from 175V/K to 250V/K with the increase of temperature from 350k to 700k. Electrical conductivity measurements revealed that conductivity varies from 10-3 to 6x10-3 -1cm-1 and activation energy increases from 0.17eV to 0.47eV. Thermal conductivity measurements confirmed that it is independent of temperature and found to be 7.656 w/m-k. The figure of merit found to be 1.5 at room temperature which indicates that NaCuO2 is suitable as thermoelectric material. For better understanding of the nature of NaCuO2 as thermoelectric material it is proposed to carry compositional studies, optical and dielectric studies.