Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties of the B-Site Substituted SrTiO3 with Vanadium

V-substituted SrTiO3 thermoelectric oxide materials were fabricated by the conventional solid state reaction method. From X-ray diffraction pattern analysis, it can be clearly seen that almost every vanadium atom incorporated into the SrTiO3 provided charge carriers. The electrical conductivity σ, Seebeck coefficient S, and thermal conductivity k were investigated in a high temperature regime above 1000 K. The addition of vanadium significantly reduced the thermal conductivity and enhanced the Seebeck coefficient, as well as the electrical conductivity, thus enhancing the ZT value. A maximum ZT value of 0.084 at 673 K was observed for the sample with 1.0 mole% of vanadium substitution. In this study, the reason for the enhanced thermoelectric properties via vanadium addition was also investigated.