Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe

Wei, Tian-Ran; Tan, Gangjian; Wu, Chao-Feng; Chang, Cheng; Zhao, Li-Dong; Li, Jing-Feng; Snyder, G. Jeffrey; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.

doi:10.1063/1.4975603

Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe

Journal Article · Fri Feb 03 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4975603· OSTI ID:1465976

Wei, Tian-Ran ^[1]; ^[2]; Wu, Chao-Feng ^[3]; Chang, Cheng ^[4]; Zhao, Li-Dong ^[4]; ^[3]; Snyder, G. Jeffrey ^[5]; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G. ^[2]

Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of New Ceramics and Fine Processing. School of Materials Science and Engineering; Tsinghua University, China
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of New Ceramics and Fine Processing. School of Materials Science and Engineering
Beihang Univ., Beijing (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

Single-crystal SnSe has been found to exhibit exceptional thermoelectric performance, but the efficiency of polycrystalline samples is still far from satisfactory. In this paper, with an intention to effectively suppress heat conduction and minimally affect hole transport, we alloyed p-type polycrystalline SnSe with PbSe. Single-phase Sn_1-xPb_xSe solid solutions were formed up to x ≈ 0.12. The lattice thermal conductivity was reduced from 1.4 to 0.85 W m^-1 K^-1 by 12 at. % PbSe alloying due to strain and mass fluctuations. Interestingly, the Seebeck coefficient and carrier concentration were nearly unchanged by Pb substitution, indicating a constant effective mass and an undisrupted valence band maximum. A peak figure of merit (ZT) of 0.85 at 800 K was obtained in the x = 0 sample, and relatively high performance was also achieved in solid solutions. Finally, a concise model was developed involving multiple carrier scattering mechanisms, capturing the dependence of the mobility on composition and temperature.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Beihang Univ., Beijing (China); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)

Sponsoring Organization:: 973 Program (China); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299; SC0014520

OSTI ID:: 1465976

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1351028

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 110; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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