New and Old Concepts in Thermoelectric Materials

Sootsman, Joseph R.; Chung, Duck Young; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.

doi:10.1002/anie.200900598

Cited by 2,190 publications

(1,524 citation statements)

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“…Thermoelectric materials are of great interest for their potential in converting heat into electricity [1][2][3][4][5]. The efficiency of thermoelectric power generators is determined by the dimensionless figure-of-merit zT (…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phonon conduction in PbSe, PbTe, and PbTe1−xSexfrom first-principles calculations

et al. 2012

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We apply first-principles calculations to lead selenide (PbSe) and lead telluride (PbTe) and their alloys (PbTe 1-x Se x ) which are potentially good thermoelectric materials, to investigate their phonon transport properties. By accurately reproducing the lattice thermal conductivity, we validate the approaches adopted in this work. We then compare and contrast PbSe and PbTe, evaluate the importance of the optical phonons to lattice thermal conductivity, and estimate the impacts of nanostructuring and alloying on further reducing the lattice thermal conductivity. The results indicate that: 1) the optical phonons are important not only because they directly comprise over 20% of the lattice thermal conductivity, but also because they provide strong scattering channels for acoustic phonons, which is crucial for the low thermal conductivity; 2) nanostructures of less than ~10 nm are needed to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity for pure PbSe and PbTe; 3) alloying should be a relatively effective way to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Semiconducting lead chalcogenides, such as PbSe and PbTe, are attractive thermoelectric materials for intermediate temperature (600-800 K) applications [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phonon conduction in PbSe, PbTe, and PbTe1−xSexfrom first-principles calculations

et al. 2012

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“…Thermoelectric materials are useful not only for generating electric power from heat, but also for providing cooling power by passing through an electric current [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. They are especially attractive as refrigerators for being reliable, noiseless, and without any moving parts [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-principles study of thermal transport inFeSb2

et al. 2014

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We study the thermal transport properties of FeSb 2 , a promising thermoelectric material for cooling applications at cryogenic temperatures. A first-principles formalism based on density functional theory and ab initio lattice dynamics is applied. We calculate the electronic structure, the phonon dispersion relation, the bulk thermal expansion coefficient, and the thermal conductivity of FeSb 2 and compare them with other calculations and experiments. Our calculation is found insufficient to fully explain the temperature dependence of the lattice thermal conductivity of FeSb 2 , suggesting new scattering mechanisms in this strongly correlated system. The mean free path distribution of different phonon modes is also calculated, which may provide valuable guidance in designing nanostructures for reducing the thermal conductivity of FeSb 2 and improving the thermoelectric figure of merit zT.

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“…Potential MXene compounds, such as Hf2C, Mo2C, and Zr2C, are yet to be produced, although corresponding MAX phase materials with Al as the A element cannot be formed. Also among the still not yet synthesized MXene compounds, Mo2C stands out as a promising candidate for a high-performance thermoelectric material [11,12]. Band structure calculations on functionalized Mo2C indicate metallic character when the functional groups are, e.g., O and OH, and semiconducting properties when the functional groups are, e.g., F and Cl.…”

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confidence: 99%