Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Chuo Kenkyusho

Noritake Co., Ltd.

Nagoya Industrial Science Research Institute

Masato Matsubara

Ryoji Asahi

Hirofumi Hazama

Yumi Saiki

Fuyutoshi Sato

Akitoshi Suzumura

Toshinobu Yogo

Koichi Kikuta

Shin-ichi Hirano

Wataru Sakamoto

A coating liquid includes aluminum phosphate, a nonionic surfactant, and water and/or water-soluble solvent that dissolves or disperses the aluminum phosphate and the nonionic surfactant. An amount of the nonionic surfactant is preferably 1 vol % or more and 10 vol % or less. The nonionic surfactant is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of ester, ether, alkylglycoside, octylphenol ethoxylate, pyrrolidone, and polyhydric alcohol. Applying such a coating liquid to a surface of a thermoelectric member, and drying and firing the coating liquid enables formation of a dense antioxidant film containing aluminum phosphate on the surface of the thermoelectric member.

Coating liquid and method for manufacturing thermoelectric member

A thermoelectric element includes a thermoelectric member made of thermoelectric materials and having a through hole, a pipe inserted into the through hole for making fluid flow, and a soaking member provided to the side of the thermoelectric element. The pipe and the soaking member respectively also function as an electrode of the thermoelectric member. A surface of the soaking member includes a blackened surface and a mirror surface. A thermoelectric generation system includes a container having a lighting window, the thermoelectric element housed in the container, a fluid feeder for feeding fluid into the pipe, and a power consumption source that consumes electric power generated by the thermoelectric element. The thermoelectric element is housed in the container so that the blackened surface is located under the lighting window.

Thermoelectric element and thermoelectric generation system

The n-type thermoelectric material has a composition represented by (ABCD)CoFeSb. In the composition, 0&#x2266;a&#x2266;0.5, 0&#x2266;b&#x2266;0.7, 0&#x3c;c&#x2266;0.5, a+b+c+t=x, 0.4&#x2266;x&#x2266;1.0, 0&#x2266;y&#x2266;0.5, a+b&#x3e;0; Element A is Mg, Ca, Sr and/or Ba; Element B is Y, Sc and/or La to Lu; Element C is Al, Ga and/or In; and Element D is Zn and/or Ti. The ABCD(=R) satisfies R=[BaA'][YbB&#x2032;][InC&#x2032;]D. In the formula, 0&#x3c;d&#x2266;1, 0&#x2266;e&#x2266;1, 0&#x3c;f&#x2266;1, ad+be&#x3e;0; Element A&#x2032; is the element A other than Ba; Element B&#x2032; is the element B other than Yb; and Element C&#x2032; is the element C other than In. The n-type thermoelectric material contains five or more kinds in total of the element A to the element D.

N-type thermoelectric material

The present invention provides a thermoelectric material and a method of manufacturing it. The thermoelectric material contains a half-Heusler compound including a composition represented by: (TiA)(NiB)(SnC) where 0&#x2266;a&#x3c;0.1, 0&#x2266;b&#x3c;0.1 and 0&#x2266;c&#x3c;0.1; &#x2212;0.1&#x2266;x&#x2266;0.2 and 0&#x3c;y&#x2266;0.2; A is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group IIIa elements, group IVa elements (excluding Ti), group Va elements and rare earth elements; B is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group VIIIa elements (excluding Ni) and group Ib elements; and C is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of group IIIb elements, group IVb elements (excluding Sn) and group Vb elements, wherein amounts of Zr substitution and Hf substitution at Ti sites of the half-Heusler compound are less than 1 at %, respectively.

Thermoelectric material and method of manufacturing the material

A lead-free piezoelectric ceramic composition wherein a suitable amount of Cu is contained in a perovskite compound of a non-stoichiometric composition represented by a formula (KA)(NbB)O, wherein 'A' represents at least one of Na and Bi, while 'B' represents at least one of Ta and Ti, and wherein 0&#x3c;x&#x2266;1, 0&#x3c;y&#x3c;1, and 0&#x2266;z&#x2266;1, so that by-products such as KCuNbOand KCuTaOare produced as a result of reaction of (NbB) with Cu in the process of calcination of a starting material, and the by-products restrict melting and abnormal grain growth of (KNa)(NbTa) Oduring firing of a calcined body, thereby improving sinterability of the fired body, while restricting volatilization of alkali components and melting of KNbO, thereby increasing the density and improving the piezoelectric properties of the fired body. The ceramic composition is prepared by firing a starting composition including the perovskite composition as a primary component, and a secondary component in the form of at least one of compounds KCuNbO, KCuTaOand KCuTiO.

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Nagakute, Japan

Masato Matsubara