Figure of merit of a europium type 1:2:3 superconductor compound

Abstract

In this work we evaluate the potentialities of the compound EuBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$ for thermoelectric applications by showing the curves of thermoelectric figure of merit versus temperatures at different oxygen concentrations. Today those kinds of data are not accessible in current literature for these types of compounds. The curves indicate that the best figure of merit corresponds to a sample with an electric conductivity related to a de-oxygenation parameter $\delta=0.7$, when the material is not in a superconducting state (tetragonal phase). For this oxygen concentration, the values achieved for the electrical conductivity, together with data of thermoelectric power and thermal conductivity, are acceptable for starting a search in thermoelectric applications, which allow us to suppose a possible basement to improve the figure of merit in this compound.