Improvement of thermoelectric properties of Ca3Co4O9 using soft chemistry synthetic methods

Two solution synthetic methods, sol–gel and a polymeric route, have been studied in order to obtain Ca3Co4O9 misfit compounds with improved thermoelectric properties, compared to the classical solid state reaction. A comparison among the final products obtained by these different methods has been performed using DTA, TGA, FTIR, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermoelectric characterizations. All the samples obtained by solution synthesis show a very significative reduction on the secondary phases content. As a consequence, an important decrease on the electrical resistivity values is produced, compared to the solid state prepared samples, leading to a relatively important power factor raise.