Two successful recipes to enhance the thermoelectric performance,} namely carrier concentration optimization and reduction of thermal conductivity{,} have been combined and applied to the p-type (Ti/Zr/Hf)CoSb1-xSnx system. An intrinsic micrometer-scale phase separation increases the phonon scattering and reduces the lattice thermal conductivity. A substitution of 15 Sb by Sn optimizes the electronic properties. Starting from this{,} further improvement of the thermoelectric properties has been achieved by a fine tuning of the Ti to Hf ratio. The microstructuring of the samples was studied in detail with high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction and element mapping electron microscopy. Linking the structural with the thermoelectric properties{,} a record thermoelectric figure of merit for p-type half-Heusler compounds of ZT [approximate] 1.2 at 710 [degree]C in Ti0.25Hf0.75CoSb0.85Sn0.15 was achieved. The phase separation approach can form a significant alternative to nanostructuring processing{,} saving time{, energy consumption and increasing the thermoelectric efficiency

A simple one-pot synthesis to [3.3]cyclophanes that involves quinone moieties was found. The protocol tolerates a variety of amines that include aliphatic and aromatic structures with different functional groups, such as hydroxy groups, amides, and terminal double and triple bonds. The straightforward synthesis can be performed by a twofold N-alkylation reaction with 2,5-bis(bromomethyl)-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquin-