ABSTRACT The quaternary chalcogenide Cu2ZnSnS4 has emerged as a potential thermoelectric (TE) material due to its low thermal conductivity (κ), high Seebeck coefficient (S) and composition including earth-abundant, low-cost and non-toxic elements. In this work, Cu2ZnSnS4 was synthesised from a mixture of Cu, Zn, Sn and S powders using a mechanical alloying method. As a result, Cu2ZnSnS4 powders were formed after 16 h of milling, without additional heat treatment. After milling, the powders were heat-treated at 723 K for 24 h and then sintered by spark plasma sintering under an applied pressure of 60 MPa at 873 K for 10 min. The heat-treated Cu2ZnSnS4 sample showed a wide-band-gap of 1.49 eV. The sintered Cu2ZnSnS4 sample exhibited S and κ values of 170 μV K−1 and 1.06 W m−1 K−1, respectively with an electrical conductivity σ of 1240 S m−1 and a dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of 0.022 at 663 K.

中文翻译：

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机械合金化合成的四元硫属化物Cu2ZnSnS4的热电性能

摘要 四元硫属化物 Cu2ZnSnS4 由于其低热导率 (κ)、高塞贝克系数 (S) 和包括地球丰富、低成本和无毒元素的成分而成为一种潜在的热电 (TE) 材料。在这项工作中，Cu2ZnSnS4 是使用机械合金化方法由 Cu、Zn、Sn 和 S 粉末的混合物合成的。结果，在研磨 16 小时后形成 Cu2ZnSnS4 粉末，无需额外的热处理。研磨后，将粉末在 723 K 下热处理 24 小时，然后在 60 MPa 的施加压力下在 873 K 下通过放电等离子体烧结 10 分钟。热处理过的 Cu2ZnSnS4 样品显示出 1.49 eV 的宽带隙。烧结的 Cu2ZnSnS4 样品的 S 和 κ 值为 170 μV K-1 和 1.06 W m-1 K-1，