An Overview of Advanced Chalcogenide Thermo- electric Materials and Their Applications

Abstract

Thermoelectricity is a strong scientific and technological interest due to its wide application ranging from clean energy producing to photon sensing devices. Recent developments in theoretical studies on the thermoelectric (TE) effects as well as the newly discovered thermoelectric materials provide new opportunities for several applications. Though the scale of production is limited, thermoelectric technology provides an alternative to traditional methods of power generation, heating and cooling systems. TE technologies can be used in power generation, heating and cooling applications. They potentially offer significant energy savings through waste heat recovery and augmented cooling. This article critically discusses the current progress in chalcogenide TE materials and the advantages and limitations associated with the TE technologies. The need for new materials discoveries from the point of view of achieving higher figure-of-merit combined with thermal stabilities in intermediate-and hightemperature Peltier and Seebeck effects applications is also emphasized. Besides, this article aims to evaluate the main features of recently characterized multicomponent chalcogenide ionic compounds with high thermal stabilities as potential TE materials to harvest electric power from high-temperature heat flux via thermoelectricity.

Phase Equilibria in the Ag2Te-PbTe-Sb2Te3 System and Thermodynamic Properties of the (2PbTe)1-x(AgSbTe2)x Solid Solutions

“…Considering relations (6) and (7), the partial molar functions of lead in solid solutions (2PbTe) x (AgSbTe 2 ) 1-x can be calculated from the relation: (8) The values obtained by the relation (8) are presented in Table 5.…”

“…4,5 Alloys formed in Ag 2 X-A IV X-B V 2 X 3 systems (where A IV = Ge, Sn, Pb; B V = Sb, Bi; X = S, Se, Te) are good thermoelectric materials with a high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT. [6][7][8][9][10] Besides, phases A IV B V 2 X 4 , A IV B V 4 X 7 , etc. which are formed on the boundary quasi-binary systems of the Ag 2 X-A IV X-B V 2 X 3 systems possess topological surface states and can be used in spintronics and quantum computing.…”

Tunable Salt-Inclusion Chalcogenides for Ion Exchange, Photoluminescence, and Scintillation

“…Advances in synthetic chalcogenide chemistry have accelerated the discovery of functional materials as well as stimulated the development of numerous technological applications for these materials, all helped by an increased understanding of composition–property relationships. , Chalcogenide-based compounds occupy a unique position in material chemistry due to the soft nature of the chalcogen elements and emerging covalent metal chalcogenide bonding, which results in a rich and diverse crystal chemistry. , In fact, the electronic structure of chalcogenide materials favors their applications as quantum materials, catalysts, ion-exchange materials, ion-conductors, luminophores, thermoelectric materials, and semiconductors. − Recent advances in developing convenient synthetic approaches have enabled the rational synthesis of new functional chalcogenide-based materials containing a wide range of elements, resulting in various material types, ranging from nanoparticles to large single crystals of pure inorganic compositions and hybrid structures. − Another new material type that has emerged from these investigations is salt-inclusion chalcogenide materials (SICs) , that exhibit novel framework topologies and possess ionic inserts (salt-inclusions).…”

PHASE RELATIONS IN THE PbTe-AgSbTe2 SYSTEM

“…In recent years, thermoelectric (TE) materials have been widely studied to be used as alternative energy sources and in novel energy conversion applications. In this respect, many semiconducting chalcogenides have attracted much attention for the development of TE materials [1][2][3]. Various complex tellurides such Ag-А IV -B V -Te (А IV -Ge, Sn , Pb; B V -Sb, Bi) alloys have high ZT values and are mentioned among the most promising thermoelectric materials [4][5][6].…”