Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe
Abstract
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 Sn1-xPbxSe 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.
- Authors:
-
[2];
[1];
- Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). State Key Lab. of New Ceramics and Fine Processing. School of Materials Science and Engineering
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
- Beihang Univ., Beijing (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China); Beihang Univ., Beijing (China); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); 973 Program (China)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1465976
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1351028
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0014520; SC0001299; 11474176; 2013CB632503
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 110; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; polycrystals; phonons; lead; solid solutions; carrier mobility; transport properties; thermoelectric effects; acoustic scattering; thermal conductivity; alloys
Citation Formats
Wei, Tian-Ran, Tan, Gangjian, Wu, Chao-Feng, Chang, Cheng, Zhao, Li-Dong, Li, Jing-Feng, Snyder, G. Jeffrey, and Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.. Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.4975603.
Wei, Tian-Ran, Tan, Gangjian, Wu, Chao-Feng, Chang, Cheng, Zhao, Li-Dong, Li, Jing-Feng, Snyder, G. Jeffrey, & Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.. Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4975603
Wei, Tian-Ran, Tan, Gangjian, Wu, Chao-Feng, Chang, Cheng, Zhao, Li-Dong, Li, Jing-Feng, Snyder, G. Jeffrey, and Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.. Fri .
"Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4975603. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1465976.
@article{osti_1465976,
title = {Thermoelectric transport properties of polycrystalline SnSe alloyed with PbSe},
author = {Wei, Tian-Ran and Tan, Gangjian and Wu, Chao-Feng and Chang, Cheng and Zhao, Li-Dong and Li, Jing-Feng and Snyder, G. Jeffrey and Kanatzidis, Mercouri G.},
abstractNote = {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 Sn1-xPbxSe 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.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4975603},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 5,
volume = 110,
place = {United States},
year = {2017},
month = {2}
}
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