Searching for novel low-cost and eco-friendly materials for energy conversion is a good way to provide widespread utilization of thermoelectric technologies. Herein, we report the thermal behavior, phase equilibria data, and thermoelectric properties for the promising argyrodite-based Cu 7 P-(S x Se 1−x ) 6 thermoelectrics. Alloying of Cu 7 PSe 6 with Cu 7 PS 6 provides a continuous solid solution over the whole compositional range, as shown in the proposed phase diagram for the Cu 7 PS 6 − Cu 7 PSe 6 system. As a member of liquid-like materials, the investigated Cu 7 P(S x Se 1−x ) 6 solid solutions possess a dramatically low lattice thermal conductivity, as low as ∼0.2−0.3 W m −1 K −1 , over the entire temperature range. Engineering the configurational entropy of the material by introducing more elements stabilizes the thermoelectrically beneficial high-symmetry γ-phase and promotes the multivalley electronic structure of the valence band. As a result, a remarkable improvement of the Seebeck coefficient and a reduction of electrical resistivity were observed for the investigated alloys. The combined effect of the extremely low lattice thermal conductivity and enhanced power factor leads to the significant enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT up to ∼0.75 at 673 K for the Cu 7 P(S x Se 1−x ) 6 (x = 0.5) sample with the highest configurational entropy, which is around twice higher compared with the pure selenide and almost four times higher than sulfide. This work not only demonstrates the large potential of Cu 7 P(S x Se 1−x ) 6 materials for energy conversion but also promotes sulfide argyrodites as earth-abundant and environmentally friendly materials for energy conversion.
The equilibrium phases were investigated and the corresponding phase diagram constructed for the TlInP2Se6–In4(P2Se6)3 system from physical and chemical analyses, namely differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and microstructural analysis (MSA). It was established that this system belongs to the eutectic type and is characterized by the formation of boundary solid phases containing complex compounds. Single crystals of the compounds TlInP2Se6 and In4(P2Se6)3 were grown using the Bridgman method. Both crystals were found to exhibit diffuse reflection spectra and photoinduced dependence of birefringence at various IR wavelengths generated by CO2 laser irradiation. Birefringence properties were investigated using the Senarmont method.
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