Processing of Thermoelectric Transition Metal Silicides Towards Module Development
Résumé
This chapter presents recent advances on the processing of transition metal silicides for thermoelectricity through various techniques, such as magnesiothermic reduction synthesis, mechanical alloying, melting processes and additive manufacturing. It emphasizes the importance of a better understanding of the crystal structure of these materials and its evolution during operating conditions through some examples of advanced structural characterization studies of transition metal silicides. The chapter discusses several scalable techniques to synthesize silicide materials as well as the importance of carefully investigating their structural properties to obtain equilibrium materials with stable performances. It also presents recent studies on module/leg development of silicide materials which will hopefully pave the way for future applications. Lots of efforts have been devoted to the synthesis and process development of transition metal silicide materials but the realization of functional devices integrating them still remains a challenge.