Thermal conductivity of CoSb3 nano-composites grown via a novel solvothermal nano-plating technique

We have utilized a solvothermal nano‐plating technique to grow nano‐structured CoSb3 directly onto the surface of micron‐sized CoSb3 particles that were subsequently hot pressed and densified into a homogeneous skutterudite nano‐composite. We herein present results for three samples: a bulk sample to serve as a reference, and two samples with solvothermally grown nano‐structures of 5 wt% and 20 wt%, respectively. All three samples used the same bulk starting materials. The thermal conductivity was measured via two independent techniques (steady state and laser flash) and both show a systematic reduction in the thermal conductivity with an increasing amount of nano‐structures. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) The authors report a novel solvothermal nano‐plating technique, which enables growing nanoparticles directly on the surfaces of bulk‐matrix grains. By this mean and a following densification process, a more homogeneous nanocomposite has been achieved. The picture shows a micro‐sized CoSb3 bulk‐matrix particle covered with a layer of nano CoSb3 particles; a less covered area, where the bare bulk‐matrix can be seen, is indicated on the right part.