hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
The phase and chemical compositions of the mineral chalcopyrite from the sulfide footwall vein in La Cantera (Zacatecas, Mexico) is examined by powder X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and chemical ICP-OES analyses. The influence of the detected impurities on the thermoelectric parameters (i.e. thermo-power, electrical and thermal conductivities) is discussed. Thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, of the studied natural minerals is found to be of the same order of magnitude (ca. 10(-3)) as reported for CuFeS2 synthesized in the laboratory.