By virtue of the excellent plasticity and tunable transport properties, Ag₂S-based materials demonstrate an intriguing prospect for flexible or hetero-shaped thermoelectric applications. Among them, Ag₂S_1-xTe_x exhibits rich and interesting variations in crystal structure, mechanical and thermoelectric transport properties. However, Te alloying obviously introduces extremely large order-disorder distributions of cations and anions, leading to quite complicated crystal structures and thermoelectric properties. Detailed composition-structure-performance correlation of Ag₂S_1-xTe_x still remains to be established. In this work, we designed and prepared a series of Ag₂S_1-xTe_x (x = 0–0.3) materials with low Te content. We discovered that the monoclinic-to-cubic phase transition occurs around x = 0.16 at room temperature. Te alloying plays a similar role as heating in facilitating this monoclinic-to-cubic phase transition, which is analyzed based on the thermodynamic principles. Compared with the monoclinic counterparts, the cubic-structured phases are more ductile and softer in mechanical properties. In addition, the cubic phases show a degenerately semiconducting behavior with higher thermoelectric performance. A maximum zT = 0.8 at 600 K and bending strain larger than 20% at room temperature were obtained in Ag₂S_0.7Te_0.3. This work provides a useful guidance for designing Ag₂S-based alloys with enhanced plasticity and high thermoelectric performance.

凭借优异的可塑性和可调节的传输特性，Ag ₂ S 基材料在柔性或异形热电应用中展现出诱人的前景。其中，Ag ₂ S _1-x Te _x在晶体结构、机械和热电输运性质方面表现出丰富而有趣的变化。然而，Te合金化明显引入了极大的阳离子和阴离子无序分布，导致了相当复杂的晶体结构和热电性能。_{Ag 2} S _1-x Te _x的详细组成-结构-性能相关性仍有待建立。在这项工作中，我们设计并制备了一系列 低 Te 含量的 Ag ₂ S _1-x Te _x ( x = 0–0.3) 材料。我们发现 在室温下x = 0.16 左右发生单斜晶-立方相变。Te 合金化在促进这种单斜晶相到立方相转变中起着与加热相似的作用，这是基于热力学原理进行分析的。与单斜晶相相比，立方结构相在力学性能上更具延展性和柔软性。此外，立方相表现出退化的半导体行为，具有更高的热电性能。最大zT_{在 Ag 2} S _0.7 Te _0.3 中获得了在 600 K 时 = 0.8 和在室温下大于 20% 的弯曲应变。_{这项工作为设计具有增强的塑性和高热电性能的Ag 2} S 基合金提供了有用的指导。