Sb₂Te₃ Nanoparticles with Enhanced Seebeck Coefficient and Low Thermal Conductivity

Abstract

Nanostructured thermoelectric semiconductors represent a promising new direction that can further increase energy conversion efficiency, which requires the realization of thermoelectric nanocrystals with size comparable to their de Broglie wavelength while maintaining a high electrical conductivity. Here, we demonstrate a new facile process to grow self-assembled Sb2Te3 nanoparticles with controlled particle size and enhanced thermoelectric properties by using a catalyst-free vapor transport growth technique. The samples show much more enhanced Seebeck coefficients than that of bulk Sb2Te3 with similar charge carrier concentration. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity measurements with pulse photothermal reflectance suggest that the these Sb2Te3 nanoparticle films show much reduced thermal conductivity as compared to that of bulk Sb2Te3. The discussed approach is promising for realizing new types of highly efficient thermoelectric semiconductors.

Covalently bonded compounds of heavy group 15/16 elements – Synthesis, structure and potential application in material sciences

“…[192] The average Seebeck value (153.35 ± 6.68 µV/K) of the film deposited at 200 °C is higher than that of bulk Sb 2 Te 3 crystals but corresponds very well to values reported by Yan et al for Sb 2 Te 3 films consisting of much smaller Sb 2 Te 3 particles (100 nm diameter). [193] A similar Seebeck coefficient (65 µV/K) was found for Sb 2 Te 3 films which were deposited by coevaporation of elemental Sb and Te on glass substrates. [194] In contrast, the film deposited at 300 °C was rather metallic due to the Te-deficiency, leading to a rather broad distribution of the thermoelectric voltage.…”

Flexible carbon nanotube papers with improved thermoelectric properties

“…The decreased electrical conductivities at high temperatures for the pristine CNT bulky paper suggested a metallic or heavily doped semiconductor characteristic. 30 The increased electrical conductivities at high temperatures for the CNT bulky paper after 20 s Ar plasma treatment revealed a semiconducting behavior.…”

Development of Perovskite-Type Materials for Thermoelectric Application

“…One approach is tuning the carrier concentration (n) to a suitable range since three interdependent thermoelectric parameters (i.e., S, σ, and κ) are functional to the carrier concentration [10]. The other approach is engineering of the material properties and structure of thermoelectric materials to decouple the parameters [16,163,164,165]. A variety of elements have been used for oxide perovskite materials, shown in Figure 4.…”