Influence of surfactants on the electrical resistivity and thermopower of Ni nanoparticles

TL;DR

This study investigates how different surfactants affect the electrical resistivity and thermopower of nanocrystalline nickel pellets, revealing surfactant type as a key factor influencing transport properties and potential for thermoelectric applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates that surfactant type significantly influences electrical and thermoelectric properties of Ni nanoparticles, offering insights for designing improved thermoelectric materials.

Findings

Surfactant type dominates over particle size in transport behavior.

Contrasting thermopower and resistivity features observed.

Potential for enhanced thermoelectric figure of merit.

Abstract

Compacted pellets of nanocrystalline nickel (NC-Ni) of average particle size ranging from 18 to 33 nm were prepared using a variety of surfactants. They were characterized well and were studied on the influence of the surfactants on the electrical resistivity and thermopower in the temperature range 5 to 300 K. It was found that the type of the surfactant used dominates over the average particle size in their electrical transport and the detail transport behaviors have been discussed. Moreover, the observed thermopower and resistivity features were contrasting compared to what are normally seen in the well-known materials. They are interpreted as indicative of attractive features these surfactants for the design of nanostructured thermoelectric materials with enhanced thermoelectric figure of merits.