Thermoelectric properties of CaxCo2O4 aligned crystals

Agglomerates of aligned crystals of CaxCo2O4 with a layer of CoO2 were grown using a chloride flux technique, and their thermoelectric properties in air were determined. The agglomerates take the form of a very thin flakelike cluster of crystals with a typical size of almost 3 × 2 × 0.07 mm. The values of thermoelectric power along the ab-plane are larger than 200 μV K−1 at temperatures above 873 K and reach almost 300 μV K−1 at 973 K. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity along the ab-plane shows bends around 450 and 825 K, and the ln ρab−T−1 curve followed an Arrhenius-type behavior below 450 K. Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity indicated that stacking faults along the c axis induce phonon scattering like that in a misfit-layered structure. The effect of the CoO2 layer on thermoelectric performance is discussed in comparison with related compounds.