Electrical Conductivity Measurements of Al-Doped ZnO Semiconductor in High Temperature

Abstract

Electrical conductivity plays an important role in the performance of thermoelectric semiconductor material. This study discusses the electrical conductivity measurements of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) doping Aluminium (Al) pellet as a material of thermoelectric using four-point probe method at high temperatures. Al-doped ZnO (2 wt%) pellet was sintered at the temperature of 1100°C, 1200°C, 1300°C, 1400°C, and 1500°C with the heating rate of 8°C/minute. SEM and XRD tests show that the higher sintering temperature effects to larger grain sizes, better crystallinity, and lower porosity. There is no electrical conductivity in the sintering sample at 1100°C due to the small grain sizes and high porosity. In the sintering sample at 1500°C, the phase of ZnAl2O4erupted. The highest electrical conductivity of 5923.48S/m of Al-doped ZnO pellet was obtained at the sintering temperature of 1400°C with measurement temperature of 500°C.