Abstract
Nanosheets of SnO produced by the chemical microwave assisted route were found to have attractive structural and electrical properties. The present work describes the thermoelectrical performance of this nanomaterial under annealing at different temperatures. The obtained results showed a systematic oxidation from SnO to SnO2 by annealing in the range 300-900 A degrees C. The measured resistivity value was increased from 0.43 to 2.05 Omega m by increasing the annealing temperature from room temperature to 900 A degrees C. The samples annealed below 400 A degrees C, which are mostly SnO exhibit a high positive Seebeck coefficient implying a p-type conductivity, while those annealed above this temperature shows negative Seebeck coefficient implying a n-type. The observed high Seebeck values beside the other tunable properties suggesting that the obtained microwave synthesized SnO-SnO2 nanostructure might be a good candidate as a thermoelectric material for different applications.