Soft phonon modes from off-center Ge atoms lead to ultralow thermal conductivity and superior thermoelectric performance in n-type PbSe–GeSe

Abstract

The off-centered Ge leads to the ultralow lattice thermal conductivity and record high average ZT for n-type PbSe.

Cu Intercalation and Br Doping to Thermoelectric SnSe2 Lead to Ultrahigh Electron Mobility and Temperature‐Independent Power Factor

“…Currently, single materials exhibiting high enough ZT and PF at the same time are few. [23][24][25][26][27] For extensive applications of TE technology, the prime interest of the TE community is being shifted toward the discovery of more economically viable and environmentally friendly materials. [14,15] PbTe and its derivatives are known to be the most efficient TE materials in the intermediate temperature range (600−900 K) for the past decades.…”

High Thermoelectric Performance in PbSe–NaSbSe2 Alloys from Valence Band Convergence and Low Thermal Conductivity

“…Furthermore, the ZTs of the n-type materials actually exceed those of the p-type at most temperatures, [21][22][23][24][25] yielding superior average ZTs of 1 over 300-900 K compared to values of only ≈0.5 for the p-type compounds. Furthermore, the ZTs of the n-type materials actually exceed those of the p-type at most temperatures, [21][22][23][24][25] yielding superior average ZTs of 1 over 300-900 K compared to values of only ≈0.5 for the p-type compounds.…”

“…Furthermore, the ZTs of the n-type materials actually exceed those of the p-type at most temperatures, [21][22][23][24][25] yielding superior average ZTs of 1 over 300-900 K compared to values of only ≈0.5 for the p-type compounds. [21,[24][25][26] Therefore, improving the thermoelectric performance of p-type PbSe requires the integration of valence band convergence and a wide interval of ultralow thermal conductivity. A principal reason for this discrepancy is that while high ZT in p-type PbSe is generally achieved by means of electronic band structure engineering, [16,17] which primarily improves the performance only at elevated temperatures, exceptionally low lattice thermal conductivity has been achieved in the n-type materials over a broad range of temperatures, providing a wider interval of enhancement to the figure of merit.…”

Shape Conformal and Thermal Insulative Organic Solar Absorber Sponge for Photothermal Water Evaporation and Thermoelectric Power Generation

“…This low‐grade solar heat is perceived as a promising energy source for waste energy‐to‐electricity conversion . We used a TE module to harvest the low‐grade heat via the Seebeck effect triggered by static temperature differences between the solar absorber and bulk water ( Figure 5 a,b) . The PCC sponges are readily shaped to conformally cover the upper side of TE module with a wall contacting with bulk water for efficient water transportation (Figure b).…”