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Ultralow Thermal Conductivity and High-Temperature Thermoelectric Performance in n-Type K2.5Bi8.5Se14

Journal Article · · Chemistry of Materials
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  1. Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore); Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Northwestern University
  2. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  3. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  4. Wuhan Univ. of Technology, Wuhan (China)
  5. Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore)
+ Show Author Affiliations
We studied the narrow band-gap (0.55 eV) semiconductor K2.5Bi8.5Se14 as a potential thermoelectric material for power generation. Samples of polycrystalline K2.5Bi8.5Se14 prepared by spark plasma sintering exhibit exceptionally low lattice thermal conductivities (κlat) of 0.57-0.33 W m-1 K-1 in the temperature range of 300-873 K. The physical origin of such low κlat in K2.5Bi8.5Se14 is related to the strong anharmonicity and low phonon velocity caused by its complex low symmetry, large unit cell crystal structure, and mixed occupancy of Bi and K atoms in the lattice. High-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy studies and microanalysis indicate that the K2.5Bi8.5Se14 sample is a single phase without intergrowth of the structurally related K2Bi8Se13 phase. The undoped material exhibits an n-type character and a figure-of-merit (ZT) value of 0.67 at 873 K. Electronic band structure calculations indicate that K2.5Bi8.5Se14 is an indirect band-gap semiconductor with multiple conduction bands close to the Fermi level. Phonon dispersion calculations suggest that K2.5Bi8.5Se14 has low phonon velocities and large Grüneisen parameters that can account for the observed ultralow κlat. The degree of n-type doping can be controlled by introducing Se deficiencies in the structure, providing a simple route to increase the ZT to ~1 at 873 K.
Research Organization:
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); Keck Foundation; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC02-06CH11357; SC0014520
OSTI ID:
1776869
Journal Information:
Chemistry of Materials, Journal Name: Chemistry of Materials Journal Issue: 15 Vol. 31; ISSN 0897-4756
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
Electrical conductivity
Phonons
Power
Thermal conductivity
Thermoelectric materials