Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)

Xu, Biao; Agne, Matthias T.; Feng, Tianli; Chasapis, Thomas C.; Ruan, Xiulin; Zhou, Yilong; Zheng, Haimei; Bahk, Je -Hyeong; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.; Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey; Wu, Yue

doi:10.1002/adma.201605140

Title: Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)

Journal Article · Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Advanced Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201605140· OSTI ID:1388397

Xu, Biao ^[1]; Agne, Matthias T. ^[2]; Feng, Tianli ^[3]; Chasapis, Thomas C. ^[2]; Ruan, Xiulin ^[3]; Zhou, Yilong ^[4]; Zheng, Haimei ^[4]; Bahk, Je -Hyeong ^[5]; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G. ^[2]; Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey ^[2]; Wu, Yue ^[1]

Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

The large-scale implementation of thermoelectric devices is inhibited, in part, by the limited temperature range where each material can operate at its highest efficiency, as evaluated by the dimensionless figure of merit (zT = S²σT/κ). To date, Bi₂Te₃-based materials have been restricted to zT ≥ 1 between 300-500 K, before the onset of bipolar conduction reduces the zT significantly. Herein, we show that a scalable, low-temperature solution process method can be used to synthesize precursor material for Pb-doped Bi_xSb_2-xTe₃ bulk nanocomposites with a zT = 1 over the 500-600 K range, making this material suitable for low-grade waste heat recovery for the first time. Our success in increasing the efficiency of p-type Bi_xSb_2-xTe₃ at higher temperatures can be largely explained by the increase in the optical band gap, according to the Burstein-Moss shift, due to Pb doping, thus delaying the onset of bipolar conduction. Furthermore, the solution synthesis method enabled controlled nanostructuring of the bulk materials, which greatly reduced the thermal conductivity over the investigated temperature range. Lastly, our scalable synthesis processing method may be applicable to not only other thermoelectrics, but also in fields such as photocatalysis, electronics and optoelectronics.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577; SC0014520

OSTI ID:: 1388397

Journal Information:: Advanced Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 10; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; ISSN 0935-9648

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 71 works

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
solar (photovoltaic)
solar (thermal)
solid state lighting
phonons
thermal conductivity
thermoelectric
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mechanical behavior
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Title: Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)

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