1
|
Wang S, Wen Y, Zhu Y, Wang Z, Liu D, Zheng J, Zhan S, Xie H, Ge Z, Gao X, Cao Q, Chang C, Zhao LD. High Carrier Mobility and Promising Thermoelectric Module Performance of N-Type PbSe Crystals. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2400866. [PMID: 38639306 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202400866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
The scarcity of Te hampers the widespread use of Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric modules. Here, the thermoelectric module potential of PbSe is investigated by improving its carrier mobility. Initially, large PbSe crystals are grown with the temperature gradient method to mitigate grain boundary effects on carrier transport. Subsequently, light doping with <1mole‰ halogens (Cl/Br/I) increases room-temperature carrier mobility to ~1600 cm2 V-1 s-1, achieved by reducing carrier concentration compared to traditional heavy doping. Crystal growth design and light doping enhance carrier mobility without affecting effective mass, resulting in a high power factor ~40 µW cm-1 K-2 in PbSe-Cl/Br/I crystals at 300 K. Additionally, Cl/Br/I doping reduces thermal conductivity and bipolar diffusion, leading to significantly lower thermal conductivity at high temperature. Enhanced carrier mobility and suppressed bipolar effect boost ZT values across the entire temperature range in n-type PbSe-Cl/Br/I crystals. Specifically, ZT values of PbSe-Br crystal reach ~0.6 at 300 K, ~1.2 at 773 K, and the average ZT (ZTave) reaches ~1.0 at 300-773 K. Ultimately, ~5.8% power generation efficiency in a PbSe single leg with a maximum temperature cooling difference of 40 K with 7-pair modules is achieved. These results indicate the potential for cost-effective and high-performance thermoelectric cooling modules based on PbSe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Wang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yi Wen
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Yingcai Zhu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Ziyuan Wang
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Dongrui Liu
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Junqing Zheng
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Shaoping Zhan
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Hongyao Xie
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Zhenhua Ge
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Xiang Gao
- Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (HPSTAR), Beijing, 100094, China
| | - Qian Cao
- Huabei Cooling Device Co. Ltd., Hebei, 065400, China
| | - Cheng Chang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Li-Dong Zhao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zhong S, Luo H, Liu K, Chen S, Yang Z, Zhong Y, Wu J, Su X, Poudeu PFP, Zhang Q, Tang X. High Ductility and Excellent Thermoelectric Performance in Te-Stabilized Cubic Ag 2Te xS 1-x Solid Solutions. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:36637-36648. [PMID: 38968080 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c08819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/07/2024]
Abstract
The stabilization at low temperatures of the Ag2S cubic phase could afford the design of high-performance thermoelectric materials with excellent mechanical behavior, enabling them to withstand prolonged vibrations and thermal stress. In this work, we show that the Ag2TexS1-x solid solutions, with Te content within the optimal range 0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.30, maintain a stable cubic phase across a wide temperature range from 300 to 773 K, thus avoiding the detrimental phase transition from monoclinic to cubic phase observed in Ag2S. Notably, the Ag2TexS1-x (0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.30) samples showed no fractures during bending tests and displayed superior ductility at room temperature compared to Ag2S, which fractured at a strain of 6.6%. Specifically, the Ag2Te0.20S0.80 sample demonstrated a bending average yield strength of 46.52 MPa at 673 K, significantly higher than that of Ag2S, whose bending average yield strength dropped from 80.15 MPa at 300 K to 12.66 MPa at 673 K. Furthermore, the thermoelectric performance of the Ag2TexS1-x (0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.30) samples surpassed that of both InSe and pure Ag2S, with the Ag2Te0.30S0.70 sample achieving the highest ZT value of 0.59 at 723 K. These results indicate substantial potential for practical applications due to enhanced durability and thermoelectric performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shenlong Zhong
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hao Luo
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- Nanostructure Research Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Keke Liu
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shuo Chen
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Zhen Yang
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yaqiong Zhong
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Jinsong Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
- Nanostructure Research Center, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xianli Su
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Pierre Ferdinand Poudeu Poudeu
- Laboratory for Emerging Energy and Electronic Materials (LE3M), Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Qingjie Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xinfeng Tang
- Hubei Longzhong Laboratory, Wuhan University of Technology Xiangyang Demonstration Zone, Xiangyang 441000, China
- State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Xu L, Yin Z, Xiao Y, Zhao LD. Interstitials in Thermoelectrics. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2406009. [PMID: 38814637 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202406009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2024] [Revised: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Defect structure is pivotal in advancing thermoelectric performance with interstitials being widely recognized for their remarkable roles in optimizing both phonon and electron transport properties. Diverse interstitial atoms are identified in previous works according to their distinct roles and can be classified into rattling interstitial, decoupling interstitial, interlayer interstitial, dynamic interstitial, and liquid interstitial. Specifically, rattling interstitial can cause phonon resonance in cage compound to scatter phonon transport; decoupling interstitial can contribute to phonon blocking and electron transport due to their significantly different mean free paths; interlayer interstitial can facilitate out-of-layer electron transport in layered compounds; dynamic interstitial can tune temperature-dependent carrier density and optimize electrical transport properties at wide temperatures; liquid interstitial could improve the carrier mobility at homogeneous dispersion state. All of these interstitials have positive impact on thermoelectric performance by adjusting transport parameters. This perspective therefore intends to provide a thorough overview of advances in interstitial strategy and highlight their significance for optimizing thermoelectric parameters. Finally, the profound potential for extending interstitial strategy to various other thermoelectric systems is discussed and some future directions in thermoelectric material are also outlined.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liqing Xu
- School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
- State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China
| | - Zhanxiang Yin
- School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Yu Xiao
- School of Materials and Energy, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
| | - Li-Dong Zhao
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, China
- Tianmushan Laboratory, Yuhang District, Hangzhou, 311115, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abusa Y, Yox P, Viswanathan G, Opare-Addo J, Sarkar A, Kyveryga V, Smith E, Lebedev OI, Kovnir K. A Recipe for a Great Meal: A Benchtop Route from Elemental Se to Superior Thermoelectric β-Ag 2Se. J Am Chem Soc 2024. [PMID: 38606803 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c01161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
The low-temperature modification of β-Ag2Se has proven to be useful as a near-room-temperature thermoelectric material. Over the past years, research has been devoted to interstitial, vacancy, and substitutional doping into the parent β-Ag2Se structure, aiming at tuning the material's charge and heat transport properties to enhance thermoelectric performance. The transformation of β-Ag2Se into α-Ag2Se at ∼134 °C and the low solubility of dopants are the main obstacles for the doping approach. Herein, we report a facile, safe, scalable, and cost-effective benchtop approach to successfully produce metal-doped β-Ag2Se. The doped materials display a remarkable enhancement of thermoelectric performance with a record-high peak zT of 1.30 at 120 °C and an average zT of ∼1.15 in the 25-120 °C range for 0.2 at. % Zn-doped Ag2Se. The enhancement in zT is attributed to point defects created by Zn doping into Ag vacancies/interstitials, which enhances the scattering of phonons and tunes the charge carrier properties, leading to the significant suppression of thermal conductivity. The simplicity of the synthetic method developed herein and the high performance of the final products provide an avenue to produce high-quality Ag2Se-based thermoelectric materials.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yao Abusa
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Philip Yox
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Gayatri Viswanathan
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Jemima Opare-Addo
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Arka Sarkar
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Victoria Kyveryga
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Emily Smith
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Oleg I Lebedev
- Laboratoire CRISMAT, ENSICAEN, CNRS UMR 6508, Caen 14050, France
| | - Kirill Kovnir
- Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- U.S. Department of Energy, Ames National Laboratory, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Dadhich A, Saminathan M, Muthiah S, Bhui A, Perumal S, Rao MSR, Sethupathi K. Enhancement in Thermoelectric Performance in Ti-doped Yb 0.4Co 4Sb 12 Skutterudites via Carrier Optimization and Phonon Anharmonicity. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023. [PMID: 37916737 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c09768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2023]
Abstract
Yb0.4Co4Sb12, being a well-studied system, has shown notably high thermoelectric performance due to the Yb filler atom-driven large concentration of charge carriers and lower value of thermal conductivity. In this work, the thermoelectric performance of YbzCo4-xTixSb12 (where z = 0, x = 0 and z = 0.4, x = 0, 0.04, and 0.08) upon Ti doping prepared by the melt-quenched-annealing followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) has been studied in the temperature range of 300-700 K. Addition of Yb and doping of donor Ti at the Co site simultaneously increase the electrical conductivity to 1453.5 S/cm at 300 K, which ultimately boosts the power factor as high as ∼4.3 mW/(m·K2) at 675 K in Yb0.4Co3.96Ti0.04Sb12. Adversely, a significant reduction in thermal conductivity is obtained from ∼7.69 W/(m·K) (Co4Sb12) to ∼3.50 W/(m·K) (Yb0.4Co3.96Ti0.04Sb12) at ∼300 K. As a result, the maximum zT is achieved as ∼0.85 at 623 K with high hardness of 584 HV for the composition of Yb0.4Co3.96Ti0.04Sb12, which demonstrates it to be an efficient material suitable for intermediate temperature thermoelectric applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Akshara Dadhich
- Low Temperature Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
- Department of Physics, Nano Functional Materials Technology Center and Materials Science Research Center, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Madhuvathani Saminathan
- Laboratory for Energy and Advanced Devices (LEAD), Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu 603203, India
| | - Saravanan Muthiah
- Advanced Materials and Device Metrology Division, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi 110012, India
| | - Animesh Bhui
- New Chemistry Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, Karnataka 560 064, India
| | - Suresh Perumal
- Laboratory for Energy and Advanced Devices (LEAD), Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana 502 285, India
| | - M S Ramachandra Rao
- Department of Physics, Nano Functional Materials Technology Center and Materials Science Research Center, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
- Quantum Centre of Excellence for Diamond and Emergent Materials (QuCenDiEM), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - Kanikrishnan Sethupathi
- Low Temperature Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
- Quantum Centre of Excellence for Diamond and Emergent Materials (QuCenDiEM), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wang S, Chang C, Bai S, Qin B, Zhu Y, Zhan S, Zheng J, Tang S, Zhao LD. Fine Tuning of Defects Enables High Carrier Mobility and Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of n-Type PbTe. CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS : A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 2023; 35:755-763. [PMID: 36711054 PMCID: PMC9878722 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c03542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
High carrier mobility is critical to improving thermoelectric performance over a broad temperature range. However, traditional doping inevitably deteriorates carrier mobility. Herein, we develop a strategy for fine tuning of defects to improve carrier mobility. To begin, n-type PbTe is created by compensating for the intrinsic Pb vacancy in bare PbTe. Excess Pb2+ reduces vacancy scattering, resulting in a high carrier mobility of ∼3400 cm2 V-1 s-1. Then, excess Ag is introduced to compensate for the remaining intrinsic Pb vacancies. We find that excess Ag exhibits a dynamic doping process with increasing temperatures, increasing both the carrier concentration and carrier mobility throughout a wide temperature range; specifically, an ultrahigh carrier mobility ∼7300 cm2 V-1 s-1 is obtained for Pb1.01Te + 0.002Ag at 300 K. Moreover, the dynamic doping-induced high carrier concentration suppresses the bipolar thermal conductivity at high temperatures. The final step is using iodine to optimize the carrier concentration to ∼1019 cm-3. Ultimately, a maximum ZT value of ∼1.5 and a large average ZT ave value of ∼1.0 at 300-773 K are obtained for Pb1.01Te0.998I0.002 + 0.002Ag. These findings demonstrate that fine tuning of defects with <0.5% impurities can remarkably enhance carrier mobility and improve thermoelectric performance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Siqi Wang
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| | - Cheng Chang
- Institute
of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Shulin Bai
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaoning
Technical University, Fuxin123000, China
| | - Bingchao Qin
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| | - Yingcai Zhu
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| | - Shaoping Zhan
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| | - Junqing Zheng
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| | - Shuwei Tang
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Liaoning
Technical University, Fuxin123000, China
| | - Li-Dong Zhao
- School
of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang
University, Beijing100191, China
| |
Collapse
|