Issue 10, 2022

Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance

Abstract

The microstructure-dependent thermal transport property has drawn significant attention in the thermoelectric community for elevating thermoelectric performance. In this work, we characterized gap-like structures and improved their controllability in GeTe-rich Sb2Te3(GeTe)n samples. The statistics of the gap-like structures were studied through direct observation using a transmission electron microscope with atomic-resolved spherical aberration correction. We found a strong and unambiguous linear correlation of the nominal composition to the planar density and sizes of the gap-like structures. This microstructure tailoring further enabled a significant reduction in lattice thermal conductivity, an ultrahigh maximum ZT value of ∼2.4 at 773 K, and an average ZT value of ∼1.51 from 323 K to 773 K in p-type Sb2Te3(Ge0.995Yb0.005Te)17. Together with n-type Pb0.985Sb0.015Te, we further fabricated a single-stage thermoelectric module that realized an exceptional output power density value of 1.25 W cm−2 and an efficiency of 7.5% under a temperature gradient of 480 K. Our pioneering strategy validated the beneficial effect of gap-like-structure tailoring for improving thermoelectric performance, laying the groundwork for similar studies on other thermoelectric materials.

Graphical abstract: Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
21 Jul 2022
Accepted
01 Sep 2022
First published
03 Sep 2022

Energy Environ. Sci., 2022,15, 4058-4068

Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance

X. Xu, Y. Huang, X. Liu, B. Jia, J. Cui, R. He, J. Wang, Y. Luo, K. Nielsch and J. He, Energy Environ. Sci., 2022, 15, 4058 DOI: 10.1039/D2EE02336A

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