Review of current high-ZT thermoelectric materials

Wei, Jiangtao; Yang, Liangliang; Ma, Zhe; Song, Peng; Zhang, Mingliang; Ma, Jing; Yang, Fuhua; Wang, Xiaodong

doi:10.1007/s10853-020-04949-0

Cited by 232 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 412 publications

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“…For thin films, the substrate thermal conductivity dominated the thermal transport, so we estimate the effective thermoelectric figure of merit zT mainly based on the value of thermoelectric power factors of the film and the reported thermal conductivity values of STO single crystal 53 . For the 35 nm ZrTe2/STO sample, the effective zT value at 300 K is about 15, which is extremely higher compared to most of the reported works according to the best our knowledge 3,54 . Even for the 60 nm thick ZrTe2 film sample, the effective zT is about 1.5 at 300 K and increases to 13 at 18 K. This superior thermoelectric property makes this heterostructure a promising candidate for future thermoelectric device.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Enormous thermoelectric power factor of ZrTe2/SrTiO3 heterostructure

Suen¹,

Cai²,

Li³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Achieving high thermoelectric power factor in thin film heterostructures is essential for integrated and miniaturized thermoelectric device applications. In this work, we demonstrate a mechanism to enhance thermoelectric power factor through coupling the interfacial confined two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with thin film conductivity in a transition metal dichalcogenides-SrTiO3 heterostructure. Owing to the formed conductive interface with two-dimensional electron confinement effect and the elevated conductivity, the ZrTe2/SrTiO3 (STO) heterostructure presents enormous thermoelectric power factor as high as 4×10^5 μW cm^(-1) K^(-2) at 20 K and 4800 μW cm^(-1) K^(-2) at room temperature. Interfacial reaction induced degradation of Ti cations valence number from Ti4+ to Ti3+ is attributed to be responsible for the formation of the quasi-two-dimensional electrons at the interface which results in very large Seebeck coefficient; and the enhanced electrical conductivity is suggested to be originated from the charge transfer induced doping in the ZrTe2. By taking the thermal conductivity of STO substrate as a reference, the effective zT value of this heterostructure can reach 15 at 300 K. This superior thermoelectric property makes this heterostructure a promising candidate for future thermoelectric device, and more importantly, paves a new pathway to design promising high-performance thermoelectric systems.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Enormous thermoelectric power factor of ZrTe2/SrTiO3 heterostructure

Suen¹,

Cai²,

Li³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Such materials were studied practically for the solar energy conversion [4][5][6][7]. Several high-figure-of-merit (ZT) thermoelectric materials were reviewed by Wei et al [8]; many copper chalcogenide materials possessed attractive performance such Cu 2-2x Ag 2x Se 1-x S x ; a ZT value of 1.6 was obtained in the Cu 1.8 Ag 0.2 Se 0.9 S 0.1 sample at 900 K [9]. The importance of the thermoelectric materials with low thermal conductivity is their use in water evaporation systems which are energy effective, with efficiencies ranging from 60 to over 90% [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-principles investigations of structural, optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of Cu-based chalcogenides compounds

et al. 2021

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The structural, electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of copper-based ternary chalcogenides ACuSe 2 (A = Sc, Y and La) were investigated within the framework of the density functional theory (DFT). The electronic band structures and density of states exhibit that ScCuSe 2 and YCuSe 2 have the indirect band gaps, while LaCuSe 2 displays a direct band gap-type transition. The band structure calculations agree well with other results in the literature. The optical behavior of the studied materials was analyzed in terms of dielectric functions, refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, optical conductivity, reflectivity and energy loss factor. The refractive indices increase to the maximum values of 4.4, 4 and 4.1 at the short infrared and visible wavelengths for ScCuSe 2 , YCuSe 2 and LaCuSe 2 , respectively. Then, they decrease to get a value below 1.0 at the UV wavelengths. Moreover, the material response with temperature was investigated by Seebeck coefficient, figure of merit, specific heat capacity, power factor, thermal conductivity and susceptibility. The high Seebeck effect and large power factor values confirm the efficiency of these materials in thermoelectric energy converter technology. Among the three studied ternary materials, YCuSe 2 has the highest value of dimensionless figure of merit of 0.45 at room temperature. These results would probably provide a new route to the experimentalists for the potential usage and applications of ScCuSe 2 , YCuSe 2 and LaCuSe 2 in thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.

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“…Today, state-of-the-art thermoelectrics are mostly inorganic materials, such as tellurides, oxides, skutterudites, half-Heusler alloys, silicon–germanium composites, etc. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. All these materials exhibit

at a specific temperature regime, and they are all used in commercially available thermoelectric power generators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Performance of Mechanically Mixed BixSb2-xTe3—ABS Composites

et al. 2021

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In the current study, polymer-based composites, consisting of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Bismuth Antimony Telluride (BixSb2−xTe3), were produced using mechanical mixing and hot pressing. These composites were investigated regarding their electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient, with respect to Bi doping and BixSb2-xTe3 loading into the composite. Experimental results showed that their thermoelectric performance is comparable—or even superior, in some cases—to reported thermoelectric polymer composites that have been produced using other complex techniques. Consequently, mechanically mixed polymer-based thermoelectric materials could be an efficient method for low-cost and large-scale production of polymer composites for potential thermoelectric applications.

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Review of current high-ZT thermoelectric materials

Cited by 232 publications

References 412 publications

Enormous thermoelectric power factor of ZrTe2/SrTiO3 heterostructure

Enormous thermoelectric power factor of ZrTe2/SrTiO3 heterostructure

First-principles investigations of structural, optoelectronic and thermoelectric properties of Cu-based chalcogenides compounds

Thermoelectric Performance of Mechanically Mixed BixSb2-xTe3—ABS Composites

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