Thermoelectric properties and figure of merit of perovskite-type Ba1−xLaxSnO3 with x=0.002–0.008

• Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity were measured at high temperatures.
• All ceramics exhibit n-type degenerate semiconducting behavior.
• Phonon thermal conductivities are dominant for all ceramics.
• Dimensionless figure of merit ZT reaches ~0.1 at 1073 K.

Thermoelectric properties and figure of merit were evaluated from the Seebeck coefficient S, electrical conductivity σ, and thermal conductivity κ measured at high temperatures for perovskite-type ceramics of Ba1−xLaxSnO3 with x=0.002, 0.005, and 0.008, which were prepared by a polymerized complex method and a subsequent spark plasma sintering technique. All the polycrystalline dense ceramics showed n-type degenerate semiconducting behavior in the temperature range of 373–1073 K. The La content dependence of the S values revealed successful increase in the electron carriers with the La doping in this x range. The κ values remained almost unchanged with x showing ~9.6 Wm−1 K−1 at room temperature and decreased with increasing temperature. The electronic thermal conductivities calculated by the Wiedemann–Franz law as well as the T−1 dependence of the κ values indicate that the phonon thermal conductivity was dominant. The dimensionless figure of merit ZT increased with increasing temperature for all the ceramics and showed ~0.1 at 1073 K for the ceramics with x=0.002 and 0.005.