An Analysis of Thermoelectric Properties of Skutterudites

Abstract

In last two decades or so, thermoelectricity has made a considerable progress with several new materials discovered and a significant improvement in the performance of already existing materials. Among the different classes of materials, skutterudites have emerged as materials having tremendous potential for mid‐temperature thermoelectric applications such as energy harvesting, waste heat recovery, etc. In this review, we discuss the thermoelectric properties and latest research developments that have led to a significant improvement in the thermoelectric performance of skutterudites by reducing their otherwise high thermal conductivity to a greater extent. The enhancement of the thermoelectric performance of skutterudites by various techniques such as nanostructuring, filling of voids is also briefly discussed.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Sulfur Vacancy-Driven Band Splitting and Phonon Anharmonicity Enhance the Thermoelectric Performance in n-Type CuFeS2

“…Moreover, a high-performance TE material must possess a high σ, and a large S with low total thermal conductivity, κ total = κ el + κ latt , in order to yield a high zT . However, attaining a high zT is cumbersome because S , σ, and κ el are interdependent on the carrier concentration. − In this regard, numerous strategies have been implemented to increase the numerator part, power factor ( S 2 σ), such as the energy filtering of minority carriers, − creating resonant states around the Fermi level ( E F ), − and facilitating the convergence of valence subbands. − Alternatively, the thermal conductivity could also be effectively reduced by introducing nano/meso-precipitates, − grain boundary phonon scattering, − and intrinsic bond anharmonicity − in the state-of-the-art materials, such as Bi 2 Te 3 , , PbTe, , SnSe, , GeTe, , and have been recently promoted as highly efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly TE materials belonging to classes, namely silicides, − skutterudites, , and antimonides. − On the other hand, high-performance TE materials comprise toxic, expensive, or scarce elements in their composition, which resulted in the hunt for alternate earth-abundant materials containing inexpensive elements, leading to the discovery of ternary and quaternary sulfides. While p -type sulfides show enhanced figure of merit, n- type equivalents, however, remain scarce.…”