Enhanced thermoelectric performance of CuGaTe2 based composites incorporated with nanophase Cu2Se

Abstract

We investigate the thermoelectric properties of CuGaTe 2 /xCu 2 Se composites in a moderate temperature range. The results indicate that the introduction of Cu 2 Se remarkably lowers the thermal conductivity of the composite system. Especially, the thermal conductivity of CuGaTe 2 /3 vol% Cu 2 Se decreases to 0.54 W m À1 K À1 at 859 K, which allows its ZT to reach 1.2 at 834 K.

Promising and Eco‐Friendly Cu2X‐Based Thermoelectric Materials: Progress and Applications

“…However, most these developed Cu 2 X‐based materials are unstable under some certain application conditions . Since the revisiting the liquid‐like behavior of Cu 2 Se leading to low κ l (<0.6 W m −1 K −1 at 1000 K) several years ago, significant progress has been witnessed in Cu 2 X‐based thermoelectric materials and their derivatives, as summarized in Figure b. Detailed thermoelectric performance of Cu 2 X‐based thermoelectric materials are summarized in Table 1 .…”

“…Detailed thermoelectric performance of Cu 2 X‐based thermoelectric materials are summarized in Table 1 . Among them, peak zT values of both Cu 2 X‐derivatives and Cu 2 Te‐based thermoelectric materials are generally of ≈1 . A few peak zT values for Cu 2 S‐based thermoelectric materials, such as Cu 1.97 S, can reach as high as ≈1.7 at 1000 K .…”

Intrinsically High Thermoelectric Performance in AgInSe2 n‐Type Diamond‐Like Compounds

“…Recently, many new prospective TE materials have been discovered, and Cu‐based compounds have generated much interest. Among them, diamond‐like compounds possessing a relatively low thermal conductivity and decent electronic transport properties are especially interesting . There are about 1000 types of diamond‐like compounds and several of them exhibit very good TE performances.…”

Unequal bonding in Ag–CuIn3Se5-based solid solutions responsible for reduction in lattice thermal conductivity and improvement in thermoelectric performance

“…Since the inherent feature structures are critical in engineering the TE performance of the chalcopyrites, many approaches have been conceived of, such as, the cation vacancy concentration or vacancy scattering engineering, [9][10][11] carrier-magnetic moment interaction employment 12 and nano-structure manipulation. 13,14 In addition to the above-noted strategies, there is a unity-h rule proposed recently. 2,15 This rule indicates that the power factors (PF) display peak values when h is around 1 or when crystal eld splitting energy D CF equals to zero.…”