Tetrahedrites: Prospective Novel Thermoelectric Materials

Abstract

Since their discovery in 1845, tetrahedrites, a class of minerals composed of relatively earth-abundant and nontoxic elements, have been extensively studied in mineralogy and geology. Despite a large body of publications on this subject, their transport properties had not been explored in detail. The discovery of their interesting high-temperature thermoelectric properties and peculiar thermal transport has led to numerous experimental and theoretical studies over the last 4 years with the aim of beter understanding the relationships between the crystal, electronic, and thermal properties. Tetrahedrites provide a remarkable example of anharmonic system giving rise to a temperature dependence of the latice thermal conductivity that mirrors that of amorphous compounds. Here, we review the progress of research on the transport properties of tetrahedrites, highlighting the main experimental and theoretical results that have been obtained so far and the important issues and questions that remain to be investigated.

Phase Analysis and Thermoelectric Properties of Cu-Rich Tetrahedrite Prepared by Solvothermal Synthesis

“…The limiting factors, which restrict their widespread utilization, are the costs of production, environmental friendliness, and efficiency of energy conversion. Therefore, many efforts of the thermoelectric community are now dedicated to the development of new classes of the materials, e.g., Mg 2 X (X = Si, Sn) [21], SnSe [22,23], argyrodites [24], and tetrahedrites [25][26][27], which better meet the modern industrial requirements.…”