| Grant number: | 19/08040-8 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | July 01, 2019 |
| Effective date (End): | June 30, 2021 |
| Field of knowledge: | Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials |
| Principal Investigator: | Edson Roberto Leite |
| Grantee: | Leilane Roberta Macario |
| Home Institution: | Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil |
| Associated research grant: | 13/07296-2 - CDMF - Center for the Development of Functional Materials, AP.CEPID |
Abstract Porous ceramics that exhibit porosity gradients are considered promising materials from the industrial point of view, especially to produce ceramic membranes and filters. The predominant processing route for these materials is the powder technology. This processing route usually results in a pore fraction due to the sintering limitation during the densification process, cost-benefit technological optimization, or when porous materials are desired. The possibility of controlling the pores for optimization of materials properties is the reason that motivates studies relating size of precursor materials, presence of dopants, and densification mechanisms.This project pursues to improve the thermoelectric performance in ceramic oxides formed by bi-layered pellets. The pellets contain a layer of tin oxide, SnO2 (pure or doped with antimony) and a sintering additive, manganese oxide, MnO2. The sintering and densification processes of SnO2 and SnO2-Sb2O3 system will be improved by the presence of the MnO2 layer, which will give rise to a porosity gradient from the interface of the pellet layers. The control of the pores, through time and temperature, will allow the production of materials with lower thermal conductivities. In addition, the presence of antimony will be essential to enhance the electrical conductivity in these materials, since it will increase the metallic character of the SnO2 semiconductor. Thereby, these materials have the potential to improve the performance of a temperature gradient to electric energy conversion. | |