Rational Design of Spinel-Type Cu₄Mn₂Te₄/TMTe (TM = Co, Ni) Composites with Synergistically Manipulated Electrical and Thermal Transport Properties

Abstract

Lead-free, environment-friendly Cu 4 Mn 2 Te 4 has received substantial attention as a potential thermoelectric material for intermediate temperature power generation. Cu 4 Mn 2 Te 4 is p-type metallic characterized by the carrier concentration on the order of 10 21 cm −3 . In this work, we prove that its electrical and thermal properties could be manipulated through adding transition metals, Co or Ni, and the accompanied formation of secondary CoTe or NiTe phases. Benefiting from the simultaneously enhanced power factor and reduced thermal conductivity, relatively high zT values were obtained, leading to 300% enhancement over that of the pristine Cu 4 Mn 2 Te 4 . These zT values are among the best results ever reported for spinel chalcogenides. This work opens the door for fabricating superior copper chalcogenides through addition of transition metals.

Tailoring the thermoelectric and structural properties of Cu–Sn based thiospinel compounds [CuM1+xSn1−xS4 (M = Ti, V, Cr, Co)]

“…[29][30][31][32] Incidentally, some tellurides with spinel-related structures have also been found lately with relatively high thermoelectric performance. 33,34 Although some attractive themoelectric properties have been reported for thiospinel compounds in the family of the general composition CuM2S4, such as CuCo2S4, CuTi2S4, CuCr2S4 and their derivatives (where Co, Ti, Cr are partially substituted for each other), [29][30][31][32]35 not much information is available on the thermoelectric properties of Sn-based thiospinel compounds and their derivatives.…”

Low Thermal Conductivity and Magneto-suppressed Thermal Transport in a Highly Oriented FeSb2 Single Crystal

“…The thermoelectric material, which can realize the interconversion between waste heat and electricity directly, has attracted widespread attention due to the promising applications for power generators and cryogenic cooling devices. − The thermoelectric efficiency mainly depends on the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit: ZT = S 2 σ T /κ, where S , σ, and T refer to the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and the absolute temperature, respectively. , S 2 σ is defined as the power factor . κ is the thermal conductivity, which mainly includes the lattice thermal conductivity κ L and the carrier thermal conductivity κ c . , The high-performance thermoelectric materials should possess a high power factor and low thermal conductivity at a specific temperature .…”