Enhanced thermoelectric performance of Cu2Se/Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 nanocomposites at elevated temperatures

Li, Yunyang; Qin, Xiaoying; Li, D.; Zhang, Jian; Li, C.; Liu, Y. F.; Song, Caixia; Xin, Haohui; Guo, Hai-Feng

doi:10.1063/1.4941757

Cited by 55 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Dou et al fabricated Bi 0.4 Sb 1.6 Te 3 -based NCs embedded with amorphous SiO 2 nanoparticles and found that the enhancement of ZT was attributed to the increase in Seebeck coefficient and reduction in thermal conductivity [61]. Guo et al [62] fabricated Bi 0.4 Sb 1.6 Te 3 -based NCs incorporated with small proportion (0.3 vol%) of nanophase Cu 2 Se and found that ZT ≈ 1.6 could be obtained at 488 K. Fan et al [63] reported the TE transport in a p -type Bi 0.4 Sb 1.6 Te 3 -based NCs fabricated by a rapid and high throughput method of mixing nanoparticles obtained though melt spinning as shown in Figure 3. The electrical conductivity of 40 wt% NC in Figure 3a is reduced that is different from that in Figure 2a.…”

Section: Nanocomposites For Thermoelectricitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Transport in Nanocomposites

Liu

Zhou

et al. 2017

Materials

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Thermoelectric materials which can convert energies directly between heat and electricity are used for solid state cooling and power generation. There is a big challenge to improve the efficiency of energy conversion which can be characterized by the figure of merit (ZT). In the past two decades, the introduction of nanostructures into bulk materials was believed to possibly enhance ZT. Nanocomposites is one kind of nanostructured material system which includes nanoconstituents in a matrix material or is a mixture of different nanoconstituents. Recently, nanocomposites have been theoretically proposed and experimentally synthesized to be high efficiency thermoelectric materials by reducing the lattice thermal conductivity due to phonon-interface scattering and enhancing the electronic performance due to manipulation of electron scattering and band structures. In this review, we summarize the latest progress in both theoretical and experimental works in the field of nanocomposite thermoelectric materials. In particular, we present various models of both phonon transport and electron transport in various nanocomposites established in the last few years. The phonon-interface scattering, low-energy electrical carrier filtering effect, and miniband formation, etc., in nanocomposites are discussed.

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Section: Nanocomposites For Thermoelectricitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermoelectric Transport in Nanocomposites

Liu

Zhou

et al. 2017

Materials

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“…Other novel concepts include grain boundary engineering, [26,27] the formation of high entropy alloys [28] and design of nanocomposites. [29] The formation of composites based on hierarchical microstructures containing a primary matrix phase embedded with secondary-phase inclusions spanning spatial scales from the micrometer scale down to the nanoscale has also proven to be a generally effective route to optimize thermoelectrics. [30,31] Very recently, a large increase in performance for Cu 2 Se was reported by two groups, including our own, using a doping strategy based on incorporating secondary carbon phases such as carbon fiber, carbon graphite powder, black carbon or carbon nanotubes into the Cu 2 Se matrix.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-high thermoelectric performance in graphene incorporated Cu2Se: Role of mismatching phonon modes

et al. 2018

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A thermoelectric material consisting of Cu 2 Se incorporated with up to 0.45 wt% of graphene nanoplates is reported. The carbon-reinforced Cu 2 Se exhibits an ultra-high thermoelectric figure-of-merit of zT = 2.44 ± 0.25 at 870 K. Microstructural characterization reveals dense, nanostructured grains of Cu 2 Se with multilayer-graphene and graphite agglomerations located at grain boundaries. High temperature X-ray diffraction shows that the graphene incorporated Cu 2 Se matrix retains a cubic structure and the composite microstructure is chemically stable. Based on the experimental structure, density functional theory was used to calculate the formation energy of carbon point defects and the associated phonon density of states. The isolated carbon inclusion is shown to have a high formation energy in Cu 2 Se whereas graphene and graphite phases are enthalpically stable relative to the solid solution. Neutron 2 spectroscopy proves that there is a frequency mismatch in the phonon density of states between the carbon honeycomb phases and cubic Cu 2 Se. This provides a mechanism for the strong scattering of phonons at the composite interfaces, which significantly impedes the conduction of heat and enhances thermoelectric performance.

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“…β-Cu2Se reveals "Phonon-Liquid Electron-Crystal" (PLEC) behavior, leading to intrinsically ultralow κ and good electrical transport properties [37], and in turn high zT values (> 1.5) at ~ 800-1000 K [32,[38][39][40]. α-Cu2Se also shows low κ due to anharmonicity [41,42] and relatively good electrical transport properties compared with other TE materials at the same temperature [43][44][45][46]. Actually, a maximum zT of ~ 1.16 of α-Cu2Se at 305 K has been predicted by using Single parabolic band (SPB) model when the carrier concentration is reduced to 3×10 19 cm -3 [47], showing great potential to promote α-Cu2Se as a near-room-temperature TE material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%