Reduced Thermal Conductivity in ZrNiSn-Based Heusler Alloys

Dual-site doped half-Heusler ZrNiSn alloys were prepared by arc melting. In order to diminish thermal conductivity of the alloys, as-casted ingots were sintered again by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique after pulverizing and milling for several different periods of time. The electrical resistivity, thermoelectric powers and thermal conductivity of the sintered samples were measured from 4 to 350 K. A drastic reduction of thermal conductivity was obtained. The thermal conductivity decreased from about 17 to 1.5 W/K m and from 8.8 to 6.3 W/K m at 30 and 350 K, respectively. The dimensionless figure of merit of the half-Heusler alloys increased about 10%