Understanding of the contact of nanostructured thermoelectric n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 legs for power generation applications

Liu, Weishu; Wang, Hengzhi; Wang, Lijuan; Wang, Xiaowei; Joshi, Giri; Chen, Gang; Ren, Zhifeng

doi:10.1039/C3TA13456C

Title: Understanding of the contact of nanostructured thermoelectric n-type Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3 legs for power generation applications

Journal Article · Thu Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Journal of Materials Chemistry. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C3TA13456C· OSTI ID:1386947

Liu, Weishu ^[1]; Wang, Hengzhi ^[2]; Wang, Lijuan ^[3]; Wang, Xiaowei ^[4]; Joshi, Giri ^[4]; Chen, Gang ^[5]; Ren, Zhifeng ^[1]

Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
Univ. of Houston, TX (United States); Minzu Univ. of China, Beijing (China)
GMZ Energy, Waltham, MA (United States)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Traditional processes of making contacts (metallization layer) onto bulk crystalline Bi₂Te₃-based materials do not work for nanostructured thermoelectric materials either because of weak bonding strength or an unstable contact interface at temperatures higher than 200 °C. Hot pressing of nickel contact onto nanostructured thermoelectric legs in a one-step process leads to strong bonding. However, such a process results in large contact resistance in n-type Ni/Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3/Ni legs, although not in p-type Ni/Bi_0.4Sb_1.6Te₃/Ni legs. A systematic study was carried out here to investigate the detailed reaction and diffusion at the interface of the nickel layer and n-type Bi₂Te₃-based thermoelectric material layer. We found that a p-type region formed within the n-type Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3 during hot pressing due to Te deficiency and Ni doping, leading to a large contact resistance.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577

OSTI ID:: 1386947

Journal Information:: Journal of Materials Chemistry. A, Vol. 1, Issue 42; ISSN 2050-7488

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 115 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (28)

High-performance flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators with high thermal concentration Kraemer, Daniel; Poudel, Bed; Feng, Hsien-Ping Nature Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 7, p. 532-538 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3013	journal	May 2011
Lattice point defects and free-carrier concentration in Bi2+xTe3 and Bi2+xSe3 crystals Horák, J.; Navrátil, J.; Starý, Z. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 53, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3697(92)90079-S	journal	August 1992
Thermoelectric Property Studies on Cu-Doped n-type Cu_xBi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3 Nanocomposites Liu, Wei-Shu; Zhang, Qinyong; Lan, Yucheng Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 1, Issue 4, p. 577-587 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201100149	journal	June 2011
Electronic structures and stability of Ni/Bi ₂ Te ₃ and Co/Bi ₂ Te ₃ interfaces Xiong, Ka; Wang, Weichao; Alshareef, Husam N. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol. 43, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/43/11/115303	journal	March 2010
Antisite defects in Sb2−xBixTe3 mixed crystals Starý, Z.; Horák, J.; Stordeur, M. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3697(88)90130-8	journal	January 1988
Anisotropic diffusion of copper into bismuth telluride Carlson, R. O. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol. 13, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3697(60)90127-X	journal	May 1960
Controlling Bulk Conductivity in Topological Insulators: Key Role of Anti-Site Defects Scanlon, D. O.; King, P. D. C.; Singh, R. P. Advanced Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201200187	journal	March 2012
Thermoelectric and mechanical properties of nano-SiC-dispersed Bi2Te3 fabricated by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering Zhao, Li-Dong; Zhang, Bo-Ping; Li, Jing-Feng Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 455, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2007.01.015	journal	May 2008
Effect of mixed grain sizes on thermoelectric performance of Bi2Te3 compound Zhao, Li-Dong; Zhang, Bo-Ping; Liu, Wei-Shu Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 105, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3063694	journal	January 2009
Transport properties of Ni, Co, Fe, Mn doped Cu _0.01 Bi ₂ Te _2.7 Se _0.3 for thermoelectric device applications Lukas, K. C.; Liu, W. S.; Ren, Z. F. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 112, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4749806	journal	September 2012
Evaluation of Diffusion Barrier Between Lead-Free Solder Systems and Thermoelectric Materials Lin, T. Y.; Liao, C. N.; Wu, Albert T. Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 41, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-011-1740-8	journal	September 2011
Analysis of Diffusion Mechanism of Cu in Polycrystalline Bi ₂ Te ₃ -Based Alloy with the Aging of Electrical Conductivity Fujimoto, Shinichi; Sano, Seijirou; Kajitani, Tsuyoshi Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 46, Issue 8A https://doi.org/10.1143/JJAP.46.5033	journal	August 2007
Experimental Studies on Anisotropic Thermoelectric Properties and Structures of n-Type Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3 Yan, Xiao; Poudel, Bed; Ma, Yi Nano Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 9, p. 3373-3378 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl101156v	journal	September 2010
Diffusion of nickel and tin in p-type (Bi,Sb)2Te3 and n-type Bi2(Te,Se)3 thermoelectric materials Lan, Y. C.; Wang, D. Z.; Chen, G. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 92, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2896310	journal	March 2008
Rapid penetration of bismuth from solid Bi2Te3 along grain boundaries in Cu and Cu-based alloys Zhevnenko, S. N.; Vaganov, D. V.; Gershman, E. I. Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 46, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-010-5234-5	journal	January 2011
Interface characterization of nickel contacts to bulk bismuth tellurium selenide Iyore, O. D.; Lee, T. H.; Gupta, R. P. Surface and Interface Analysis, Vol. 41, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.3046	journal	May 2009
Interface Characterization of Cobalt Contacts on Bismuth Selenium Telluride for Thermoelectric Devices Gupta, R. P.; Iyore, O. D.; Xiong, K. Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3196237	journal	January 2009
Identifying the Specific Nanostructures Responsible for the High Thermoelectric Performance of (Bi,Sb) ₂ Te ₃ Nanocomposites Xie, Wenjie; He, Jian; Kang, Hye Jung Nano Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl100804a	journal	September 2010
Studies on the Bi ₂ Te ₃ –Bi ₂ Se ₃ –Bi ₂ S ₃ system for mid-temperature thermoelectric energy conversion Liu, Weishu; Lukas, Kevin C.; McEnaney, Kenneth Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1039/C2EE23549H	journal	January 2013
Reliable contact fabrication on nanostructured Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric materials Feng, Shien-Ping; Chang, Ya-Huei; Yang, Jian Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cp50993a	journal	January 2013
Effects of Heavy Deformation and Annealing on the Electrical Properties of Bi ₂ Te ₃ Schultz, J. M.; McHugh, J. P.; Tiller, W. A. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 33, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1728990	journal	August 1962
Modeling of concentrating solar thermoelectric generators McEnaney, Kenneth; Kraemer, Daniel; Ren, Zhifeng Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3642988	journal	October 2011
Defects in Bi ₂ Te _{3− x} Se _x single crystals Lošt’ák, P.; Drašar, Č.; Bachan, D. Radiation Effects and Defects in Solids, Vol. 165, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/10420151003616663	journal	March 2010
Recent Studies of Bismuth Telluride and Its Alloys Goldsmid, H. J. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 32, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1777042	journal	October 1961
High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys Poudel, B.; Hao, Q.; Ma, Y. Science, Vol. 320, Issue 5876, p. 634-638 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1156446	journal	May 2008
Enhanced Thermoelectric Figure-of-Merit in p-Type Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Tellurium Alloys Made from Elemental Chunks Ma, Yi; Hao, Qing; Poudel, Bed Nano Letters, Vol. 8, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl8009928	journal	August 2008
Structural and Transport Properties of Sn-Doped Bi ₂ Te _{3 – x} Se _x Single Crystals Gasenkova, I. V.; Svechnikova, T. E. Inorganic Materials, Vol. 40, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:INMA.0000031988.18749.88	journal	June 2004
Transport Properties of Ni, Co, Fe, Mn Doped Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 for Thermoelectric Device Applications Lukas, Kevin C.; Liu, Weishu; Ren, Zhifeng arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1205.6377	text	January 2012

Cited By (9)

Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation: Recent Progress and Future Challenges : Thermoelectric Devices for Power Generation Zhang, Qi Hao; Huang, Xiang Yang; Bai, Sheng Qiang Advanced Engineering Materials, Vol. 18, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201500333	journal	September 2015
Thermoelectric Devices: A Review of Devices, Architectures, and Contact Optimization He, Ran; Schierning, Gabi; Nielsch, Kornelius Advanced Materials Technologies, Vol. 3, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.201700256	journal	December 2017
Fabrication of Cu-Doped Bi2Te3 Nanoplates and Their Thermoelectric Properties Liu, Shuai; Peng, Nan; Bai, Yu Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 46, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-4913-7	journal	September 2016
Exploring the Origin of Contact Destruction in Tetradymite-Like-Based Thermoelectric Elements Voronin, A. I.; Novitskii, A. P.; Ashim, Y. Z. Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 48, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07029-5	journal	February 2019
Global Analysis of Influence of Contacts on Heusler-Based Thermoelectric Modules Roy, G.; Van Der Rest, C.; Heymans, S. Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 48, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07137-2	journal	April 2019
Concentrating solar thermoelectric generators with a peak efficiency of 7.4% Kraemer, Daniel; Jie, Qing; McEnaney, Kenneth Nature Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2016.153	journal	September 2016
Physical origin of inertness of Ta contacts on Bi ₂ Te ₃ Music, Denis; Chen, Xiang; Holzapfel, Damian M. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 124, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5050558	journal	November 2018
Effect of solder and barrier layer elements on the thermoelectric properties of Bi _0.5 Sb _1.5 Te ₃ Mi, Hong-Xing; Wu, Ming-Xing; Cao, Shen Materials Research Express, Vol. 6, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/ab3cd5	journal	August 2019
High thermoelectric cooling performance of n-type Mg ₃ Bi ₂ -based materials Mao, Jun; Zhu, Hangtian; Ding, Zhiwei Science, Vol. 365, Issue 6452 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax7792	journal	July 2019

Similar Records

Experimental determination of the Lorenz number in Cu

_{0.01}

_{2}

_{2.7}

_{0.3}

and Bi

_{0.88}

_{0.12}

Journal Article · Mon May 07 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics · OSTI ID:1386947

Lukas, K. C.; Liu, W. S.; Joshi, G.; +5 more

High-Performance Screen-Printed Thermoelectric Films on Fabrics

Journal Article · Fri Aug 04 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Scientific Reports · OSTI ID:1386947

Shin, Sunmi; Kumar, Rajan; Roh, Jong Wook; +11 more

Studies on the Bi₂Te₃–Bi₂Se₃–Bi₂S₃ system for mid-temperature thermoelectric energy conversion

Journal Article · Thu Nov 22 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Energy & Environmental Science · OSTI ID:1386947

Liu, Weishu; Lukas, Kevin C.; McEnaney, Kenneth; +5 more

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Title: Understanding of the contact of nanostructured thermoelectric n-type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 legs for power generation applications

Citation Formats

References (28)

Cited By (9)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Title: Understanding of the contact of nanostructured thermoelectric n-type Bi₂Te_2.7Se_0.3 legs for power generation applications