Aliovalent Dilute Doping and Nano‐Moiré Fringe Advance the Structural Stability and Thermoelectric Performance in β‐Zn₄Sb₃ (Adv. Sci. 26/2022)

Abstract

Thermoelectrics In article number 2201802 by I‐Lun Jen, Kuang‐Kuo Wang, and Hsin‐Jay Wu, aliovalent cation substitution fulfilling by dilute gallium (Ga) ions diminishes the highly‐mobile zinc (Zn) ions in zinc antimonide (Zn4Sb3) and optimizes the hole carriers, leading to an ultrahigh thermoelectric power factor. The interstitial metallic Ga elicits formation of nano‐moiré fringes, resulting in an ultra‐low lattice thermal conductivity. A light‐doped Ga‐Zn4Sbx crystal performs high thermoelectric performance with superior structural stability by leveraging the ionic and electronic conduction.