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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Synthesis of Non-uniformly Pr-doped SrTiO3 Ceramics and Their Thermoelectric Properties
Published on: August 15, 2015
Large thermal conductivity reduction induced by La/O vacancies in the thermoelectric LaCoO3 system
Yang Wang1, Fang Li, Luxiang Xu
1Center for Condensed Matter Science and Technology (CCMST), Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. wang_yang@ntu.edu.sg
Abstract:
A series of compact La/O-vacant La(1-x)CoO(3-y) compounds were prepared by a cold high-pressure procedure, and their thermoelectric (TE) properties were investigated. Compared with the ion-substituted hole-type LaCoO(3) systems (e.g., La(1-x)Sr(x)CoO(3)), the thermal conduction of La(1-x)CoO(3-y) is noticeably reduced by the La/O vacancies, whereas the electric transport is less influenced, which results in an efficient ZT enhancement. We demonstrate that the large thermal conductivity reduction originates from the strong point-defect scattering, and La(1-x)CoO(3-y) can be rationalized as a partially filled solid solution: La(1-x)◻(x)CoO(3-y)◻(y), where ◻ denotes a vacancy. Such intrinsic thermal conductivity suppression provides an effective pathway for the design of better TE materials.
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