Cost Effective Synthesis of Bulk Thermoelectric Higher Manganese Silicide for Waste Heat Recovery and Environmental Protection

Higher manganese silicide (HMS) is a useful thermoelectric material for waste heat recovery in medium to high temperature range. It is made from two of the most abundant materials on earth. Moreover, it is non-toxic and environmentally responsible. A low-cost, scalable, and quick method of synthesizing bulk thermoelectric higher manganese silicide is proposed for its industrial manufacturing. Heat treatment alloying of higher manganese silicide powder is proposed for producing its large quantity in a cost effective way. The process involves heat treatment of the elemental powders at 1050 °C for 1 hour. Thermoelectric properties of the resultant samples were studied and compared with the samples made by mechanical alloying. In comparison, both methods result in similar trends in thermoelectric properties however with significant cost reduction and ease of fabrication for the proposed method.