Double-Doping Approach to Enhancing the Thermoelectric Figure-of-Merit of n-Type Mg2Si Synthesized by Use of Spark Plasma Sintering

We report significant enhancement of the thermoelectric figure-of-merit of Mg2Si by double-doping with a combination of Bi, Pb, and Sb as doping elements. Addition of any two of these three elements to Mg2Si increases the electrical conductivity by more than three orders of magnitude at 323 K, irrespective of the doping elements used. However, a corresponding decrease in the Seebeck coefficient is observed in comparison with undoped Mg2Si. Irrespective of the combination of the three elements used for double doping, a figure-of-merit of approximately 0.7 at 873 K is obtained for Mg2Si; this is primarily because of enhancement of the electrical conductivity.