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The NASA enhanced MMRTG (eMMRTG) project seeks to enhance the performance of the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator by exchanging the heritage thermoelectric couple materials and design with that of more efficient skutterudite (SKD)-based thermoelectric (TE) couples. Both at the Jet Propulsion Lab—where the SKD materials were developed—and at Teledyne Energy Systems, Inc.—where the technology is being matured and optimized for fabrication under the Skutterudite Technology Maturation (SKD Tech Mat) Project—many SKD material batches have been produced. A strong correlation has been observed between the TE performance of the materials and the particular lot numbers (same producer and supplier) of various raw materials used to produce the SKD materials. An analysis of the differences between lots, their effects on performance, and the current plan to mitigate the risk posed by these results is discussed.

Lead-antimony-silver-tellurium (LAST) thermoelectric materials are candidates for waste-heat recovery applications. However, rapid heating and cooling (thermal shock) imposes thermomechanical stresses that can cause microcracking. Waste-heat recovery applications involve thermal fatigue, in which a series of hundreds or thousands of individual thermal shock events can lead to accumulation of microcrack damage in brittle thermoelectrics such as LAST. Microcracking in turn leads to a decrease in transport properties, such as electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, and mechanical properties, including elastic modulus and strength. Thus, microcracking can affect both thermoelectric performance and mechanical integrity. In this study, LAST specimens were rapidly cooled (quenched) into a fluid (water or silicone oil) in order to compare the results with the vast majority of thermal shock studies of brittle materials that are quenched in a similar manner. Decreases in elastic modulus, E, with accumulating microcrack damage were measured using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS). The evolution of thermal fatigue damage observed in this study is also described well by an equation that successfully describes thermal fatigue damage in a variety of brittle materials.

Mg2Si is of interest as a thermoelectric (TE) material in part due to its low materials cost, lack of toxic components, and low mass density. However, harvesting of waste heat subjects TE materials to a range of mechanical and thermal stresses. To understand and model the material’s response to such stresses, the mechanical properties of the TE material must be known. The Mg2Si specimens included in this study were powder processed and then sintered via pulsed electrical current sintering. The elastic moduli (Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and Poisson’s ratio) were measured using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, while the hardness and fracture toughness were examined using Vickers indentation. Also, the Vickers indentation crack lengths were measured as a function of time in room air to determine the susceptibility of Mg2Si to slow crack growth.

Lead chalcogenides such as (Pb0.95Sn0.05Te)0.92(PbS)0.08-0.055%PbI2 have received attention due to their encouraging thermoelectric properties. For the hot pressing (HP) and pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) techniques used in this study, decomposition reactions can generate porosity (bloating). Porosity in turn can degrade electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. In this study, microstructural observations (scanning electron microscopy) and room-temperature elasticity measurements (resonant ultrasound spectroscopy) were used to characterize bloating generated during post-densification anneals. Although every HP specimen bloated during post-densification annealing, no bloating was observed for the PECS specimens processed from dry milled only powders. The lack of bloating for the annealed PECS specimens may be related to the electrical discharge intrinsic in the PECS process, which reportedly cleans the powder particle surfaces during densification.