Thermal conductivity suppression in ZnO with AlZn₂O₄ and ZnP₂ for thermoelectric applications

Abstract In this study, intrinsic ZnO powder was sintered and intercalated with particles. The resulting powder, along with a commercial p-type product, was consolidated into bulk materials, and their thermal conductivity was measured across a temperature range of 350 K–700 K. The thermal conductivity of the commercial p-type ZnO was found to be lower than that of intrinsic ZnO, attributed to controlled doping. Notably, our demonstration illustrated that the thermal conductivity can be reduced by a factor of 5–10 in the presence of AlZn₂O₄ and ZnP₂ precipitates. This methodology presents a feasible approach for the future design of ZnO-based thermoelectric materials, particularly for thermal heat scavenging applications.