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Title: Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity

Abstract

Zintl compounds are considered to be potential thermoelectric materials due to their “phonon glass electron crystal” (PGEC) structure. A promising Zintl-phase thermoelectric material, 2-1-2–type Eu 2 ZnSb 2 ( P 6 3 / mmc ), was prepared and investigated. The extremely low lattice thermal conductivity is attributed to the external Eu atomic layers inserted in the [Zn 2 Sb 2 ] 2- network in the structure of 1-2-2–type EuZn 2 Sb 2 ( P 3 ¯ m 1 ) , as well as the abundant inversion domain boundary. By regulating the Zn deficiency, the electrical properties are significantly enhanced, and the maximum ZT value reaches ∼1.0 at 823 K for Eu 2 Zn 0.98 Sb 2 . Our discovery provides a class of Zintl thermoelectric materials applicable in the medium-temperature range.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1493466
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1611558
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0010831
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 116 Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of Sciences
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; Science & Technology

Citation Formats

Chen, Chen, Xue, Wenhua, Li, Shan, Zhang, Zongwei, Li, Xiaofang, Wang, Xinyu, Liu, Yijie, Sui, Jiehe, Liu, Xingjun, Cao, Feng, Ren, Zhifeng, Chu, Ching-Wu, Wang, Yumei, and Zhang, Qian. Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1073/pnas.1819157116.
Chen, Chen, Xue, Wenhua, Li, Shan, Zhang, Zongwei, Li, Xiaofang, Wang, Xinyu, Liu, Yijie, Sui, Jiehe, Liu, Xingjun, Cao, Feng, Ren, Zhifeng, Chu, Ching-Wu, Wang, Yumei, & Zhang, Qian. Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity. United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819157116
Chen, Chen, Xue, Wenhua, Li, Shan, Zhang, Zongwei, Li, Xiaofang, Wang, Xinyu, Liu, Yijie, Sui, Jiehe, Liu, Xingjun, Cao, Feng, Ren, Zhifeng, Chu, Ching-Wu, Wang, Yumei, and Zhang, Qian. Mon . "Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity". United States. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819157116.
@article{osti_1493466,
title = {Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity},
author = {Chen, Chen and Xue, Wenhua and Li, Shan and Zhang, Zongwei and Li, Xiaofang and Wang, Xinyu and Liu, Yijie and Sui, Jiehe and Liu, Xingjun and Cao, Feng and Ren, Zhifeng and Chu, Ching-Wu and Wang, Yumei and Zhang, Qian},
abstractNote = {Zintl compounds are considered to be potential thermoelectric materials due to their “phonon glass electron crystal” (PGEC) structure. A promising Zintl-phase thermoelectric material, 2-1-2–type Eu 2 ZnSb 2 ( P 6 3 / mmc ), was prepared and investigated. The extremely low lattice thermal conductivity is attributed to the external Eu atomic layers inserted in the [Zn 2 Sb 2 ] 2- network in the structure of 1-2-2–type EuZn 2 Sb 2 ( P 3 ¯ m 1 ) , as well as the abundant inversion domain boundary. By regulating the Zn deficiency, the electrical properties are significantly enhanced, and the maximum ZT value reaches ∼1.0 at 823 K for Eu 2 Zn 0.98 Sb 2 . Our discovery provides a class of Zintl thermoelectric materials applicable in the medium-temperature range.},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.1819157116},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
number = 8,
volume = 116,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Mon Feb 04 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819157116

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