Thermoelectric properties of Bi and Cu co-doped Ca3Co2O6single crystals

Single crystals of Bi and Cu-doped Ca3Co2O6were synthesized in a molten K2CO3flux. Using an obtained single crystal of (Ca0.985(5)Bi0.015(5))3(Co0.990(3)Cu0.010(3))2O6elongated to the c-axis direction of the crystal structure, the electric resistivity (ρ) and Seebeck coefficient (S) were measured from room temperature to over 1000 K in air. The single crystal showed p-type semiconducting behavior with ρ values of 1.8 Ω cm at 303 K and 0.017 Ω cm at 1000 K. The S values were +254 μ VK− 1 at 325 K, +360 μ VK− 1 at 420 K, and +214 μ VK− 1 at 1000 K. The power factor (S 2 ρ − 1) increased with an increase of temperature and attained 2.70 × 10− 4 Wm− 1K− 2 at 1000 K.