Impact of noble-gas filler atoms on the lattice thermal conductivity of CoSb3skutterudites: first-principles modelling

Structural Dynamics, Phonon Spectra and Thermal Transport in the Silicon Clathrates

The potential of thermoelectric power to reduce energy waste and mitigate climate change has led to renewed interest in "phonon-glass electron-crystal" materials, of which the inorganic clathrates are an archetypal example. In this work we present a detailed first-principles modelling study of the structural dynamics and thermal transport in bulk diamond Si and five framework structures, including the reported Si Clathrate I and II structures and the recently-synthesised oC24 phase, with a view to understanding the relationship between the structure, lattice dynamics, energetic stability and thermal transport. We predict the IR and Raman spectra, including ab initio linewidths, and identify spectral signatures that could be used to confirm the presence of the different phases in material samples. Comparison of the energetics, including the contribution of the phonons to the finite-temperature Helmholtz free energy, shows that the framework structures are metastable, with the energy differences to bulk Si dominated by differences in the lattice energy. Thermal-conductivity calculations within the single-mode relaxation-time approximation show that the framework structures have significantly lower κlatt than bulk Si, which we attribute quantitatively to differences in the phonon group velocities and lifetimes. The lifetimes vary considerably between systems, which can be largely accounted for by differences in the three-phonon interaction strengths. Notably, we predict a very low κlatt for the Clathrate-II structure, in line with previous experiments but contrary to other recent modelling studies, which motivates further exploration of this system.

Unraveling the Impact of Graphene Addition to Thermoelectric SrTiO3 and La-Doped SrTiO3 Materials: A Density Functional Theory Study

We present a detailed theoretical investigation of the interaction of graphene with the SrO-terminated (001) surface of pristine and La-doped SrTiO₃. The adsorption of graphene is thermodynamically favorable with interfacial adsorption energies of -0.08 and -0.32 J/m² to pristine SrTiO₃ and La-doped SrTiO₃ surfaces, respectively. We find that graphene introduces C 2p states at the Fermi level, rendering the composite semimetallic, and thus the electrical properties are predicted to be highly sensitive to the amount and quality of the graphene. An investigation of the lattice dynamics predicts that graphene adsorption may lead to a 60-90% reduction in the thermal conductivity due to a reduction in the phonon group velocities, accounting for the reduced thermal conductivity of the composite materials observed experimentally. This effect is enhanced by La doping. We also find evidence that both La dopant ions and adsorbed graphene introduce low-frequency modes that may scatter heat-carrying acoustic phonons, and that, if present, these effects likely arise from stronger phonon-phonon interactions.