Remarkable electron and phonon transports in low-cost SnS: A new promising thermoelectric material

Abstract

As a deceptively simple material, SnS has received extensive attention in the thermoelectric community recently due to its fascinating electron and phonon transport features, making it a very promising thermoelectric candidate. In this review, we first discuss the fundamental characteristics of SnS, including crystal structures, electronic and phononic band structures, and physical or chemical properties. Meanwhile, the approaches of improving thermoelectric performance are summarized, including simultaneous carrier concentration tuning and carrier mobility improvement, multiple valence bands transport and their synergetic optimization, and anharmonicity and phonon "softening" behavior. We also compare the difference in electrical and thermal transport properties between crystals and polycrystalline SnS. Then, theoretical calculations to predict the maximum ZT in SnS system are also established for potential performance enhancement. Finally, some future possible strategies are proposed to aim at further promoting the figure of merit of SnS. The exploration and research on this new emerged material can contribute the thermoelectrics toward practical applications to meet market demands of low-cost, higheffectiveness, and environmental compatibility.

Current status of n-type SnS: paving the way for SnS homojunction solar cells

“…SnS is also expected to be an excellent thermoelectric conversion material [83,84]; however, a full discussion of this concept is outside the scope of this review. In particular, n-type SnS is predicted to have a higher thermoelectric conversion performance than p-type SnS based on first-principles calculations [85], and several experimental studies on this concept have been reported [55,86].…”

Recent Progress in Colloidal Quantum Dot Thermoelectrics

“…[1][2][3][4] The breadth of potential applications has increased interest in next-generation thermoelectric materials in recent years. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Amongst the plethora of electronic materials, solutionprocessed semiconductors have recently emerged as strong candidates for thermoelectric applications. [4,7,9,10] Thanks to their tunable solubility, these materials offer solution processing at low temperatures via cost-effective deposition methods, including spin-coating, dip-coating, blade-coating, inkjet printing, and roll-to-roll processes.…”

Enhancing Carrier Mobility and Seebeck Coefficient by Modifying Scattering Factor

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10] Several intrinsic low thermal conductivity materials recently emerge with excellent potential in the thermoelectric field, and enhancing electrical properties becomes more critical for them. [11][12][13][14][15][16] However, despite the high improvement of ZT values obtained by following these strategies, the unsatisfying average thermoelectric performance is one of the reasons for the limited utilization of thermoelectric materials.…”