Thermoelectric Characteristics of Pb- and La-Doped Bi2Ba2Co2OY Ceramics

Pb- and La-doped (Bi,Pb)2(Ba,La)2Co2Oy ceramics were prepared by solid-state reaction method and the effect of element doping on the thermoelectric characteristics was investigated. Pb and La doping increased the electrical conductivity and transformed the conduction from a metal-like behavior to a semiconducting one. Different from the undoped samples, the values of Seebeck coefficients decreased with the increase of the temperature in the Pb- and La-doped samples. Pb doping in Bi2Ba2Co2Oy system improved the thermoelectric characteristics at high temperature and Pb/La co-doping improved thermoelectric characteristics at low temperature.