Electrical Conductivity and Thermoelectric Power of (BaSr)O and BaO

Abstract

A study has been made of the thermoelectric power, the electrical conductivity, and the thermionic emission of (BaSr)O and BaO at different states of activation and on different base metals over a temperature range of 1100°K to 300°K. A plot of the logarithm of the conductivity vs reciprocal temperature showed two straight line regions. The temperature dependence of the thermionic emission was found to be the same as the temperature dependence of the conductivity in the temperature range 700°K to 1100°K. The slope of a plot of the thermoelectric power vs reciprocal temperature was also similar to the thermionic work function and the conductivity activation energy in this temperature range. The thermoelectric power varied with temperature from a value of about 2.0 mv/° at 1100°K, increasing to about 2.5 mv/° at 800°K, reducing to between 1.0 and 0.5 mv/° at about 500°K, and remaining practically constant or increasing slowly at still lower temperatures. In all thermoelectric power measurements the hot junction was positive indicating negative charge carriers. The simple semiconductor theory does not adequately account for these results which seem to be in good agreement with the pore conduction hypothesis.