Constructing van der Waals gaps in cubic-structured SnTe-based thermoelectric materials

Xu, Xiao; Cui, Juan; Yu, Yong; Zhu, Bin; Huang, Yi; Xie, Lin; Wu, Di; He, Jiaqing

doi:10.1039/d0ee02638g

Cited by 56 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…By performing advanced electron microscopy analysis and theoretical calculation, we are able to prove that the extra carriers originate from Sb vacancies, which are stabilized by the incorporated Al. As a result, a record‐high PF avg for copper‐based diamond‐like compounds of 19 µW cm −1 K −2 is realized in these composites, which is comparable to those of PbTe [ 6,17,21,45 ] and SnTe [ 18,42,43,46 ] in the same temperature range. Moreover, an average zT of 0.72 and a peak zT of 1.4 at 723 K are obtained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites

Huang

Zhang

et al. 2022

Advanced Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

the dimensionless figure of merit zT = PF•T/κ = α 2 σT/(κ e + κ L ), where α, σ, T, κ e , and κ L are the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, absolute temperature, and electronic and lattice contributions to the total thermal conductivity, respectively. [3] PF denotes the TE power factor that characterizes electrical transport performance. In practice, the average power factor (PF avg ) is directly proportional to the output power density of TE devices. [4] Therefore, for practical application, a higher PF avg is more desirable for achieving a large output power. In principle, PF and PF avg are both determined by electronic band structure and optimal carrier concentration. [5][6][7] Several strategies have been proposed to enhance both PF and PF avg . For example, Pei et al. [8] showed that a high peak PF can be achieved in PbTe by increasing the band degeneracy; Zhu et al. [9] demonstrated that FeNb 1−x Ti x Sb reaches high PF via reducing band effective mass, which results in high carrier mobility. In recent years, it has been elucidated that grain boundaries also play an important role in carrier scattering for certain TE compounds. For instance, Zhao et al. [10,11] revealed that both p and n-type SnSe single crystals that are free of grain boundaries exhibit high PFs; Snyder et al. [12,13] discovered that PF of Mg 3 Sb 2 -based Thermoelectric materials are typically highly degenerate semiconductors, which require high carrier concentration. However, the efficiency of conventional doping by replacing host atoms with alien ones is restricted by solubility limit, and, more unfavorably, such a doping method is likely to cause strong charge-carrier scattering at ambient temperature, leading to deteriorated electrical performance. Here, an unconventional doping strategy is proposed, where a small trace of alien atoms is used to stabilize cation vacancies in Cu 3 SbSe 4 by compositing with CuAlSe 2 , in which the cation vacancies rather than the alien atoms provide a high density of holes. Consequently, the hole concentration enlarges by six times but the carrier mobility is well maintained. As a result, a record-high average power factor of 19 µW cm −1 K −2 in the temperature range of 300-723 K is attained. Finally, with further reduced lattice thermal conductivity, a peak zT value of 1.4 and a record-high average zT value of 0.72 are achieved within the diamond-like compounds. This new doping strategy not only can be applied for boosting the average power factor for thermoelectrics, but more generally can be used to maintain carrier mobility for a variety of semiconductors that need high carrier concentration.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites

Huang

Zhang

et al. 2022

Advanced Materials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We first synthesized (details can be found in the Supporting Information) a series of Sb 2 Te 3 -alloyed SnTe samples, namely, (SnTe) n Sb 2 Te 3 (n = 40,25,20,15,12,10,8), and presented powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns in Figure 1a. It seems that all samples exhibit the single-phase rock salt structure without any impurities.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies have shown that short-range and dispersed van der Waals gaps can be successfully constructed in the GeTe matrix by alloying trigonal Sb 2 Te 3 or Bi 2 Te 3 with rhombohedral GeTe, 49−51 leading to ynergetic optimization of electrical and thermal performances. Xu et al 25 reported that similar effects can also be realized in SnTe via Sb 2 Te 3 alloying. In this work, we introduced a two-step method to improve the overall thermoelectric figure of merit of SnTe.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Synergy of Valence Band Modulation and Grain Boundary Engineering Leading to Improved Thermoelectric Performance in SnTe

Wang¹,

Yu²,

He³

et al. 2021

ACS Appl. Energy Mater.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SnTe is a lead-free and promising p-type thermoelectric material in an intermediate temperature range (500−900 K), but its intrinsic performance is poor due to excess cation vacancies and relatively large band offset between L and ∑ valence bands. In this study, we alloyed Sb 2 Te 3 into the SnTe matrix and successfully promoted the valence band convergence as supported by the calculated two-band Pisarenko curve; we further doped excess Mg and obtained a significantly reduced lattice thermal conductivity ∼0.44 W m −1 K −1 at 623 K. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) reveals that a large amount of Mgrich nanoprecipitates concentrate at SnTe grain boundaries and stay coherent with the SnTe lattice, which is believed to be responsible for the large reduction of lattice thermal conductivity. Through the synergetic effects of valence band modulation and grain boundary engineering, a decent ZT max of ∼1.14 at 723 K and an impressively large ZT avg of ∼0.67 (323−773 K) were achieved simultaneously in the (Sn 0.95 Mg 0.05 Te) 10 Sb 2 Te 3 sample.

show abstract

“…Thermoelectric (TE) materials can make it come true for the effective conversion between electric and thermal energies by virtue of thermoelectric effect. [9][10][11]14,104,164,239,240] Harvesting electricity by utilizing waste heat is a clean and sustainable approach to overcome the challenge of the traditional fuel resource consumption, making thermoelectrics become a research hotspot with remarkable attentions for extensive application prospects. [241][242][243][244][245][246][247] The conversion efficiency of a TE material is usually dependent on the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT), defined as ZT ¼ (S 2 σ/κ)T, where S is Seebeck coefficient, σ is electrical conductivity, and κ is total thermal conductivity including the lattice part (κ L ) and the electronic part (κ e ).…”

Section: Thermoelectricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The Sn-X (X ¼ S, Se, Te) compounds are typically layered materials and usually have three crystalline phases: hexagonal, monoclinic, and orthorhombic; orthorhombic phase is denoted by chemical formula SnX, and hexagonal and monoclinic phases are labeled as SnX 2 . [8] Until now, SnSe and SnTe compounds have already achieved great progress in many fields, especially for thermoelectronics and ferroelectrics, [9][10][11][12] and many important reviews have been reported on SnSe and SnTe compounds due to their rapid development. [8,[13][14][15][16] For example, in 2020, Chen et al [14] summarized a comprehensive overview of controlled synthesis, characterization, and thermoelectric performance in SnSe.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanoengineering of Tin Monosulfide (SnS)‐Based Structures for Emerging Applications

Zhu

et al. 2021

Small Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tin-based binary chalcogenide Sn-X (X ¼ S, Se, Te) compounds have attracted extensive interest in the optical, optoelectronic, catalysis, and flexible systems due to their intriguing performances. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The Sn-X (X ¼ S, Se, Te) compounds are typically layered materials and usually have three crystalline phases: hexagonal, monoclinic, and orthorhombic; orthorhombic phase is denoted by chemical formula SnX, and hexagonal and monoclinic phases are labeled as SnX 2 . [8] Until now, SnSe and SnTe compounds have already achieved great progress in many fields, especially for thermoelectronics and ferroelectrics, [9][10][11][12] and many important reviews have been reported on SnSe and SnTe compounds due to their rapid development. [8,[13][14][15][16] For example, in 2020, Chen et al. [14] summarized a comprehensive overview of controlled synthesis, characterization, and thermoelectric performance in SnSe. In 2018, Shi et al. [8] summarized the growth, characterization, and applications (photovoltaics, supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries, phase-change memory devices, and topological insulator) of SnSe. In 2018, Li et al. [15] reviewed the development of SnS, SnSe, and SnTe, mainly focusing on the controllable tuning of the electron and phonon transport as well as the challenges for further optimization and practical applications. Among Sn-X (X ¼ S, Se, Te) compounds, tin monosulfide (SnS) as a typical black phosphorus analogue, has also received intensive scientific attention due to its unique properties, such as inexpensive, sustainable, suitable bandgap between Si (1.12 eV) and GaAs (1.43 eV), [17] high absorption coefficient (10 À4 cm À1 ), [18] strong mechanical properties, and anisotropic optoelectronic, [19][20][21] which are of great value in optoelectronics, catalysis, sensors, and nanomedicines. [7,[22][23][24][25][26][27] In addition, layered SnS with suitable spacing structures hold promising potentials in the field of lithium (Li)-ion batteries and sodium (Na)-ion batteries due to their relatively high electrical conductivity and theoretical capacity. [28][29][30][31][32] However, although popular SnS has achieved great progress in a variety of fields, few comprehensive reviews have hitherto focused on the field of SnS-based nanostructures and their fascinating applications.Inspired by important reviews on SnSe reported by Chen [14] and Li [8] in recent years, we comprehensively summarized the synthesis, characterization, and the latest progress of SnS-based nanostructures, as shown in Figure 1. First, the most commonly employed techniques (hydrothermal, vapor deposition, electrostatic assembly, etc.) for preparing SnS and SnS-based nanostructures are presented in detail with their recent progress. Furthermore, the fundamental properties (crystal structure, electronic band structure, optical property, and Raman spectroscopy) and diverse applications (batteries, solar cells, catalysis, optoelectronics, sensors, ferroelectrics, thermoelectrics, nonlinear properties, and biomedical applicatio...

show abstract

Constructing van der Waals gaps in cubic-structured SnTe-based thermoelectric materials

Abstract: The practical application of eco-friendly tin telluride (SnTe) at intermediate temperature were long restricted by its relatively lower average ZT than that of state-of-art PbTe. Here, a maximal figure of...

Cited by 56 publications

References 39 publications

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites

Synergy of Valence Band Modulation and Grain Boundary Engineering Leading to Improved Thermoelectric Performance in SnTe

Nanoengineering of Tin Monosulfide (SnS)‐Based Structures for Emerging Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Constructing van der Waals gaps in cubic-structured SnTe-based thermoelectric materials

Abstract: The practical application of eco-friendly tin telluride (SnTe) at intermediate temperature were long restricted by its relatively lower average ZT than that of state-of-art PbTe. Here, a maximal figure of...

Cited by 56 publications

References 39 publications

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu3SbSe4‐Based Composites

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu3SbSe4‐Based Composites

Synergy of Valence Band Modulation and Grain Boundary Engineering Leading to Improved Thermoelectric Performance in SnTe

Nanoengineering of Tin Monosulfide (SnS)‐Based Structures for Emerging Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites

Unconventional Doping Effect Leads to Ultrahigh Average Thermoelectric Power Factor in Cu₃SbSe₄‐Based Composites