Method for manufacturing nanocomposite thermoelectric conversion material

Abstract

This invention provides a method for manufacturing a nanocomposite thermoelectric conversion material in which phonon-scattering particles having a specific shape are dispersed, reducing thermal conductivity and increasing thermoelectric conversion performance. Said method for manufacturing a nanocomposite thermoelectric conversion material, in which oxide phonon-scattering particles are dispersed within the matrix of a thermoelectric conversion material, is characterized by including the following stages: a first stage in which, in a solution, the reduction of a salt is used to precipitate out/grow nanoparticles consisting of elements constituting a thermoelectric conversion material, the polymerization of a precursor is used to precipitate out/grow nanoparticles consisting of an oxide constituting phonon-scattering particles, and a mixture of said nanoparticles is collected; and a second stage in which a hydrothermal treatment is used to alloy said mixture into composite nanoparticles, which are then sintered. This method for manufacturing a nanocomposite thermoelectric conversion material is also characterized in that in the aforementioned first stage, nanoparticles consisting of a first group of elements that constitute the thermoelectric conversion material are precipitated out or grown before nanoparticles consisting of oxides of a second group of elements that constitute the phonon-scattering particles.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.