Thermoelectric Properties of Indium(III)‐Doped Copper Antimony Selenide Thin Films Deposited Using a Microwave‐Assisted Technique

Abstract

The improvement of the thermoelectric performance of semiconducting chalcogenides is an important task. The principal challenge in this field is to tailor the thermoelectric properties, such as electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and thermal conductivity, to improve the figure of merit (ZT). Herein, we present an improvement in the thermoelectric properties of InIII‐doped p‐type Cu3SbSe4 thin films deposited by using a microwave‐assisted technique. The deposited thin films were characterized for their optical, structural, morphological, compositional, and electrical transport properties to show the applicability of the materials in thermoelectric energy conversion. The improvement in ZT is achieved with InIII doping because of the enhancement in the charge carrier density of Cu3SbSe4 thin films. A maximum ZT of 0.183 was achieved for Cu3(Sb0.94In0.06)Se4 at 300 K. Our results show that this deposition strategy and doping process can provide an effective solution to fabricate Cu3SbSe4‐based materials for thermoelectric applications.

Phase transformation and photoelectrochemical characterization of Cu/Bi and Cu/Sb based selenide alloys as promising photoactive electrodes

“…28 Figure 3(b) displays the XPS scan diagram of copper that consists of two apparent peaks, Cu2p orbital peaks, at 933 and 953 eV, with a peak separation of 20 eV, indicating that the CBSe sample contains Cu 1+ (cuprous) electronic state. 14,29 The additional two peaks are detected at 936.5 and 956 eV for the Cu 2+ (cupric) electronic state that can be related to the impurity binary phases found in the XRD pattern of the CBSe sample, as mentioned before. 29 Moreover, the XPS scan for bismuth confirms the trivalent cation state as it shows three peaks at 158.1, 160, and 164 eV with an energy difference equal to 5.9 eV related to Bi 3+ , as depicted in Fig.…”

“…3(d). 14 The second deconvoluted peak at 55.5 eV indicates the presence of the elemental selenium in the metallic form, which can be interpreted from its reference XPS data. 30 The third peak for selenium is at 95.5 eV, which is attributed to the oxidized form of selenium (Se 4+ in SeO 2 ).…”

“…The Sb3d XPS scan for antimony shows many peaks for two different electronic states. Two peaks at 530.9 and 540.2 eV with the splitting value 9.3 eV stand for Sb +3 , 14,32 and two peaks at 532.5 and 538.5 eV are related to the Sb +5 electronic state. 27 Another additional peak is found at 529.2 eV that may be assigned to an oxidized form of Sb in Sb 2 O5.…”

“…Two peaks at 53.5 and 54.1 eV with an energy splitting value of 0.6 eV corresponding to the Se 2− oxidation form. 14,31 Meanwhile, the other two peaks at 58.2 and 60.1 eV are related to the oxidized form Se 4+ . 14 Generally, the XRD, EDS, and XPS data' results and analysis consistently confirm the formation of the CBSe and CASe ternary phases with a major content.…”

“…10,11 Thereby, wide optical bandgaps (1.5-2.1 eV) and (1.05-1.96 eV) have previously been reported for CBSe and CASe, respectively. 8,[12][13][14] Eventually, the indium free light absorber material Cu(Sb,Bi) (S,Se) 2 has possessed higher values of absorption coefficient than those of the CuInS 2 and CuInSe 2 materials reaching the double value. 15 Moreover, these compounds have strong optical absorption compared to chalcopyrite CuIn(S,Se) 2 and kesterite Cu 2 ZnSn(S,Se) 4 .…”