Znic oxide (ZnO) is a promising environmentally friendly thermoelectric material, however, its commercial applications are constrained by low electrical conductivity and high thermal conductivity. This study adopted a simple and scalable hydrothermal method to synthesize Fe-doped and C-coated (acetylene black as carbon source) ZnO powders, which were then sintered in an argon atmosphere at 1000 ℃ to fabricate ZnO-based composite ceramics with enhanced thermoelectric performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the doped Fe and coated C enhanced electrical transport, and reduced the thermal conductivity of ZnO, the highest figure of merit (ZTmax) 0.91 at 800 K was obtained from Zn0.997Fe0.003O/0.3 at %C. Hall effect measurements confirm that Fe and C effectively increased the carrier concentration. Additionally, the coated C improved the connection between matrix grains, and enhanced carrier mobility. Photoluminescence analysis of pure ZnO and ZnO/C particles reveals that the coated C effectively quenched the oxygen vacancies on the ZnO grain surface, thus released the trapped electrons. Furthermore, the sample Zn0.997Fe0.003O/0.3 at %C exhibits a notable low thermal conductivity about 2.85 Wm-1K−1 at 800 K. Overall, this is a practical method to optimize the thermoelectric properties of ZnO materials.
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