Effect of CeO2 on the thermoelectric properties of WO3-based ceramics

The thermoelectric properties of tungsten trioxide (WO3) ceramics doped with cerium dioxide (CeO2) were investigated. The results demonstrated that the addition of CeO2 to WO3 could promote the grain growth and the densification. The magnitude of the electrical conductivity (σ) and the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient (|s|) depended strongly on the CeO2 content. The sample doped with 2.0 mol% CeO2 yielded higher σ and |s|, resulting in a significant increase in the power factor (σs2). In addition, the power factor value of all samples increased abruptly at high temperatures, which revealed that WO3-based ceramics could have greater thermoelectric properties at high temperatures.