Enhancement of the thermoelectric properties of n-type PbTe by Na and Cl co-doping

Abstract

In an attempt to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, associated with severe environmental effects, the current research is focused on the enhancement of the direct thermal to electrical thermoelectric efficiency of n-type PbTe by Na and Cl co-doping.

Rapid One‐Step Synthesis and Compaction of High‐Performance n‐Type Mg3Sb2 Thermoelectrics

“…As a clean and sustainable solution for the energy crisis, thermoelectric (TE) technology is able to realize the direct interconversion between heat and electricity without moving parts and shows great potential in applications such as waste heat harvesting and solid‐state refrigeration . For the development of this technology, it is essential to have TE materials that are highly efficient . The performance of TE materials is evaluated by the dimensionless figure of merit zT=α 2 σT/κ , where α is the Seebeck coefficient, σ is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and κ is the total thermal conductivity.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] For the development of this technology, it is essential to have TE materials that are highly efficient. [6][7][8][9][10] The performance of TE materials is evaluated by the dimensionless figure of merit zT = a 2 sT/k, where a is the Seebeck coefficient, s is the electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature, and k is the total thermal conductivity.…”

Solute manipulation enabled band and defect engineering for thermoelectric enhancements of SnTe

“…Band engineering [24][25][26] approaches, typified by band convergence, 25,27 are demonstrated to be successful as well, in terms of decoupling the relationship among the strongly coupled electronic properties at some degree for electronic enhancements. This has led to significant zT improvements in various materials such as PbTe, [28][29][30][31] half-Heusler, [32][33][34][35] SnTe, [36][37][38] silicides, [39][40][41] GeTe, [42][43][44][45] Zintl phase, 46,47 and Te. 48 However, it should be noted that an optimal carrier concentration (n) is always required to realize the maximal performance for a given material because electronic transport properties are optimized in a certain narrow range of reduced Fermi level.…”

Simulation of Morphological Effects on Thermoelectric Power, Thermal and Electrical Conductivity in Multi‐Phase Thermoelectric Materials

“…(2) and (3), as in the case of series alignment as explained above, reduces them into Eq. (6): (6) Please note that although for the case of parallel alignment, effective electrical and thermal conductivity, Eq. (4), follow a simple rule of mixture, a more complicated dependency is apparent for series alignment, Eq.…”

“…Converting this waste heat into electricity will reduce fossil fuel consumption and emission of pollutants. This can be achieved by direct thermoelectric (TE) converters, as was successfully demonstrated by development of various highly efficient TE material classes, including Bi 2 Te 3 [1][2][3] for temperatures, T, of up to ∼300°C, SnTe [4,5], PbTe [6,7] and GeTe [8][9][10][11], for temperatures range 300 ≤ T ≤ 500°C, and higher manganese silicides (HMS) [12][13][14], half-Heuslers [15][16][17][18][19][20], which are capable to operate at higher temperatures. Such materials require unique combination of electronic (i.e.…”