High thermoelectric performance in Bi0.46Sb1.54Te3 nanostructured with ZnTe

Deng, Rigui; Su, Xianli; Hao, Shiqiang; Zheng, Zheng; Zhang, Min; Xie, Hongyao; Liu, Wei; Yan, Yonggao; Wolverton, Chris; Uher, Ctirad; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.; Tang, Xinfeng

doi:10.1039/c8ee00290h

High thermoelectric performance in Bi_0.46Sb_1.54Te₃ nanostructured with ZnTe

Journal Article · Wed Mar 28 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Energy & Environmental Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ee00290h· OSTI ID:1775290

Deng, Rigui ^[1]; ^[2]; Hao, Shiqiang ^[3]; Zheng, Zheng ^[4]; Zhang, Min ^[4]; Xie, Hongyao ^[4]; Liu, Wei ^[4]; Yan, Yonggao ^[4]; Wolverton, Chris ^[3]; Uher, Ctirad ^[5]; ^[3]; ^[4]

Wuhan Univ. of Technology (China); Northwestern University
Wuhan Univ. of Technology (China); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Wuhan Univ. of Technology (China)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

Defect engineering and nano-structuring are the core stratagems for improving thermoelectric properties. In bismuth telluride alloys nanosizing individual crystallites has been extensively studied in efforts to reduce the thermal conductivity, but nanostructuring with second phases has been more challenging. In this study, we demonstrate a thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of 1.4 at 400 K, realized in Zn-containing BiSbTe alloys (specifically Bi_0.46Sb_1.54Te₃) by integrating defect complexity with nanostructuring. We have succeeded in creating nanostructured BiSbTe alloys containing ZnTe nanoprecipitates. We present a melt-spinning-based synthesis that forms in situ ZnTe nanoprecipitates to produce an extremely low lattice thermal conductivity of ~0.35 W m^–1 K^–1 at 400 K, approaching the amorphous limit in the Bi_2–xSb_xTe₃ system, while preserving the high power factor of Bi_0.46Sb_1.54Te₃. These samples show excellent repeatability and thermal stability at temperatures up to 523 K. DFT calculations and experimental results show that Zn is inclined to form dual site defects, including two substitutional defects ZnBi/Sb' and a Te vacancy, to achieve full charge compensation, which was further explicitly corroborated by Positron annihilation measurement. The strong enhancement of thermoelectric properties was validated in a thermoelectric module fabricated with the melt-spun p-legs (ZnTe-nanostructured BiSbTe) and zone-melt n-legs (conventional BiTeSe) which achieved a thermoelectric conversion efficiency of 5.0% when subjected to a temperature gradient of 250 K, representing about 40% improvement compared with a commercial zone-melt-based module. Furthermore, the results presented here represent a significant step forward for applications in thermoelectric power generation.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0014520

OSTI ID:: 1775290

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1540035
OSTI ID: 1434120

Journal Information:: Energy & Environmental Science, Journal Name: Energy & Environmental Science Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 11; ISSN 1754-5692

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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