Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
College/Unit
Statler College of Engineering and Mining Resources
Department/Program/Center
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Abstract
Metal silicide-based thermocouples were fabricated by screen printing thick films of the powder compositions onto alumina tapes followed by lamination and sintering processes. The legs of the embedded thermocouples were composed of composite compositions consisting of MoSi2, WSi2, ZrSi2, or TaSi2 with an additional 10 vol % Al2O3 to form a silicide–oxide composite. The structural and high-temperature thermoelectric properties of the composite thermocouples were examined using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and a typical hot–cold junction measurement technique. MoSi2-Al2O3 and WSi2-Al2O3 composites exhibited higher intrinsic Seebeck coefficients (22.2–30.0 μV/K) at high-temperature gradients, which were calculated from the thermoelectric data of composite//Pt thermocouples. The composite thermocouples generated a thermoelectric voltage up to 16.0 mV at high-temperature gradients. The MoSi2-Al2O3//TaSi2-Al2O3 thermocouple displayed a better performance at high temperatures. The Seebeck coefficients of composite thermocouples were found to range between 20.9 and 73.0 μV/K at a temperature gradient of 1000 ◦C. There was a significant difference between the calculated and measured Seebeck coefficients of these thermocouples, which indicated the significant influence of secondary silicide phases (e.g., Mo5Si3, Ta5Si3) and possible local compositional changes on the overall thermoelectric response. The thermoelectric performance, high sensitivity, and cost efficiency of metal silicide–alumina ceramic composite thermocouples showed promise for high-temperature and harsh-environment sensing applications.
Digital Commons Citation
Yakaboylu, Gunes A.; Pillai, Rajalekshmi C.; Sabolsky, Katarzyna; and Sabolsky, Edward M., "Fabrication and Thermoelectric Characterization of Transition Metal Silicide-Based Composite Thermocouples" (2018). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1336.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1336
Source Citation
Yakaboylu, G., Pillai, R., Sabolsky, K., & Sabolsky, E. (2018). Fabrication and Thermoelectric Characterization of Transition Metal Silicide-Based Composite Thermocouples. Sensors, 18(11), 3759. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18113759
Comments
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).