An experimental setup has been designed and built for measuring the Seebeck coefficient of bulk thermoelectric materials, thin films, and nanowire composites in the temperature range 200–350 K. The setup utilizes a differential method for measuring the Seebeck coefficient of the sample. The sample holder is a simple clamp design, utilizing a spring-loaded mounting system to load and hold the sample between two copper blocks, on which the electrical leads, as well as thermocouples, are mounted. The spring-loaded design also offers fast turn-around times, as the samples can be quickly loaded and unloaded. To measure the Seebeck coefficient, a temperature difference is generated across the sample by using four resistive heaters mounted in series on one of the copper blocks. The resulting slope of the thermo-emf versus temperature difference plot is used to obtain the Seebeck coefficient at any temperature. Test measurements were carried out on bulk samples of nickel (Ni), bismuth-telluride , antimony-telluride , as well as thin films and nanowire composites of Ni.
Issue Section:
Research Paper
Keywords:
antimony compounds,
biomedical materials,
bismuth compounds,
composite materials,
metallic thin films,
nanobiotechnology,
nanofabrication,
nanowires,
nickel,
Seebeck effect,
thermocouples,
thermoelectricity,
bismuth-telluride,
antimony-telluride,
nickel,
electrodeposition,
physical property measurement system,
differential method
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