Thermopower of Bio-SiC and SiC/Si ecoceramics prepared from sapele tree wood

The thermopower coefficients of bio-SiC and SiC/Si ecoceramics prepared from sapele tree wood have been measured in the temperature interval 5–300 K. The measurements have been performed both along and perpendicular to empty (bio-SiC), as well as empty and partially silicon-filled (SiC/Si) channels in the samples. In bio-SiC, a contribution to thermopower associated with electron drag by phonons has been shown to exist within the temperature interval 5–200 (250) K. No such effect is realized in SiC/Si. This is assumed to derive from the presence in this material of heavily doped silicon embedded in SiC channels and the dominant part it plays in the behavior of the thermopower of this ceramics. The results obtained for the thermopower are compared with the available data for bio-SiC prepared from white eucalyptus tree wood and heavily doped bismuth.