Preparation of In2O3-Sr2RuErO6 Composite Ceramics by the Spark Plasma Sintering and Their Thermoelectric Performance

In1.94Zn0.03Ge0.03O3 and Sr2RuErO6 composite ceramics have been prepared by the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. Microstructure studies show that the Sr2RuErO6 phases are randomly dispersed in the In1.94Zn0.03Ge0.03O3 matrix. The results show that the Seebeck coefficient increases with increasing the amount of Sr2RuErO6, while the thermal conductivity of the composite samples is lower than that of the In1.94Zn0.03Ge0.03O3 ceramic. The thermal conductivity of the 7 vol.% Sr2RuErO6 sample can decrease to 2.15 W·m−1·K−1 at 973 K, and the evaluated maximum ZT value is 0.23 for 3 vol.% Sr2RuErO6 samples at 973 K, which makes them promising materials for the thermoelectric devices.