The Effects of Excess Co on the Phase Composition and Thermoelectric Properties of Half-Heusler NbCoSb

Huang, Lihong; Wang, Junchen; Chen, Xi; He, Ran; Shuai, Jing; Zhang, Jianjun; Zhang, Qinyong; Ren, Zhifeng

doi:10.3390/ma11050773

Title: The Effects of Excess Co on the Phase Composition and Thermoelectric Properties of Half-Heusler NbCoSb

Journal Article · 11 May 2018 · Materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11050773 · OSTI ID:1510294

^[1]; Wang, Junchen ^[1]; Chen, Xi ^[1]; He, Ran ^[2]; Shuai, Jing ^[3]; Zhang, Jianjun ^[1]; Zhang, Qinyong ^[1]; Ren, Zhifeng ^[3]

Xihua Univ., Chemgdu (China). Key Lab. of Fluid and Power Machinery of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science & Engineering
Leibniz Inst. for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW), Dresden (Germany). Inst. for Metallic Materials
Univ. of Houston, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity

NbCoSb with nominal 19 valence electrons, and is supposed to be metallic, has recently been reported to also exhibit the thermoelectric properties of a heavily doped n-type semiconductor. In this study, we prepared Co-rich NbCo_1+xSb samples (x = 0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5), and their phase compositions, microstructures and thermoelectric properties were investigated. The Seebeck coefficient increased a great deal with increasing x, due to decreasing carrier concentration, and the total thermal conductivity reduced mainly because of declining κ_e. Finally, a peak thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, was about 0.46 for NbCo_1.3Sb at 973 K. This enhancement was mainly attributed to the reduction of electric thermal conductivity and the increase of Seebeck coefficient. The excess Co had effects on the carrier concentration, deformation potential E_def and DOS effective mass m^*. Adding an excessive amount of Co leads to a very high E_def, which was detrimental for transport characteristics.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC); Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299

OSTI ID:: 1510294

Journal Information:: Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1996-1944

Publisher:: MDPICopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 10 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (47)

Realizing high figure of merit in heavy-band p-type half-Heusler thermoelectric materials Fu, Chenguang; Bai, Shengqiang; Liu, Yintu Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9144	journal	September 2015
The effect of Sn doping on thermoelectric performance of n-type half-Heusler NbCoSb Huang, Lihong; Zhang, Qinyong; Wang, Yumei Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 37 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7CP04801G	journal	January 2017
Effect of C and N Addition on Thermoelectric Properties of TiNiSn Half-Heusler Compounds Dow, Hwan; Kim, Woo; Shin, Weon Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11020262	journal	February 2018
Anomalous electrical conductivity of n-type Te-doped Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.5 Mao, Jun; Wu, Yixuan; Song, Shaowei Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.08.001	journal	December 2017
Optimum Carrier Concentration in n-Type PbTe Thermoelectrics Pei, Yanzhong; Gibbs, Zachary M.; Gloskovskii, Andrei Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201400486	journal	May 2014
Microstructure and thermoelectric properties of a ZrNi1.1Sn half-Heusler alloy Chai, Yaw Wang; Oniki, Toshinori; Kimura, Yoshisato Acta Materialia, Vol. 85 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2014.11.042	journal	February 2015
Enhancement of Thermoelectric Performance of n-Type PbSe by Cr Doping with Optimized Carrier Concentration Zhang, Qian; Chere, Eyob Kebede; McEnaney, Kenneth Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201401977	journal	January 2015
Low Electron Scattering Potentials in High Performance Mg ₂ Si _0.45 Sn _0.55 Based Thermoelectric Solid Solutions with Band Convergence Liu, Xiaohua; Zhu, Tiejun; Wang, Heng Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201300174	journal	April 2013
FeNbSb p-type half-Heusler compound: beneficial thermomechanical properties and high-temperature stability for thermoelectrics Silpawilawan, W.; Kurosaki, K.; Ohishi, Y. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 5, Issue 27 https://doi.org/10.1039/C7TC01570D	journal	January 2017
Enhancing Thermoelectric Performance of TiNiSn Half-Heusler Compounds via Modulation Doping Berry, Tanya; Fu, Chenguang; Auffermann, Gudrun Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02685	journal	August 2017
High thermoelectric figure of merit by resonant dopant in half-Heusler alloys Chen, Long; Liu, Yamei; He, Jian AIP Advances, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4986760	journal	June 2017
Engineering the Thermoelectric Transport in Half-Heusler Materials through a Bottom-Up Nanostructure Synthesis Zhao, Huaizhou; Cao, Binglei; Li, Shanming Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201700446	journal	May 2017
High Thermoelectric Performance of Ag9GaSe6 Enabled by Low Cutoff Frequency of Acoustic Phonons Lin, Siqi; Li, Wen; Li, Shasha Joule, Vol. 1, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2017.09.006	journal	December 2017
How nanoparticles can change the figure of merit, ZT, and mechanical properties of skutterudites Rogl, G.; Rogl, P. Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.12.004	journal	December 2017
A new n-type half-Heusler thermoelectric material NbCoSb Huang, Lihong; He, Ran; Chen, Shuo Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 70 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2015.06.022	journal	October 2015
Band Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials Pei, Yanzhong; Wang, Heng; Snyder, G. J. Advanced Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 46 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202919	journal	October 2012
Band engineering of high performance p-type FeNbSb based half-Heusler thermoelectric materials for figure of merit zT > 1 Fu, Chenguang; Zhu, Tiejun; Liu, Yintu Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EE03042G	journal	January 2015
Promising thermoelectric performance in van der Waals layered SnSe2 Wu, Yixuan; Li, Wen; Faghaninia, Alireza Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.10.001	journal	December 2017
Using the 18-Electron Rule To Understand the Nominal 19-Electron Half-Heusler NbCoSb with Nb Vacancies Zeier, Wolfgang G.; Anand, Shashwat; Huang, Lihong Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04583	journal	January 2017
Synthesis and thermoelectric properties of n-type half-Heusler compound VCoSb with valence electron count of 19 Zhang, Hao; Wang, Yumei; Huang, Lihong Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 654 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.09.082	journal	January 2016
Improved thermoelectric performance of n-type half-Heusler MCo1-xNixSb (M = Hf, Zr) He, Ran; Zhu, Hangtian; Sun, Jingying Materials Today Physics, Vol. 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.05.002	journal	June 2017
The effect of an isoelectronic Ti–Zr substitution on Heusler nanoprecipitation and the thermoelectric properties of a (Ti0.2,Zr0.8)Ni1.1Sn half-Heusler alloy Chai, Yaw Wang; Oniki, Toshinori; Kenjo, Takahiro Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 662 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.12.098	journal	March 2016
Thermal conductivity reduction by isoelectronic elements V and Ta for partial substitution of Nb in half-Heusler Nb _(1−x)/2 V _(1−x)/2 Ta _x CoSb Huang, Lihong; Wang, Yumei; Shuai, Jing RSC Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 124 https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA21404A	journal	January 2015
Lithium Doping to Enhance Thermoelectric Performance of MgAgSb with Weak Electron-Phonon Coupling Liu, Zihang; Wang, Yumei; Mao, Jun Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201502269	journal	January 2016
High Efficiency Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting Zhu, Tiejun; Fu, Chenguang; Xie, Hanhui Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201500588	journal	July 2015
Achieving zT > 1 in Inexpensive Zintl Phase Ca ₉ Zn ₄₊ _x Sb ₉ by Phase Boundary Mapping Ohno, Saneyuki; Aydemir, Umut; Amsler, Maximilian Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201606361	journal	March 2017
High Thermoelectric Figure of Merit by Resonant Dopant in Half-Heusler Alloys Chen, Long; Liu, Yamei; He, Jian arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1705.06100	preprint	January 2017
Achieving zT > 1 in Inexpensive Zintl Phase Ca ₉ Zn ₄₊ _x Sb ₉ by Phase Boundary Mapping Ohno, Saneyuki; Aydemir, Umut; Amsler, Maximilian Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 27, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201606361	journal	March 2017
Band Engineering of Thermoelectric Materials Pei, Yanzhong; Wang, Heng; Snyder, G. J. Advanced Materials, Vol. 24, Issue 46 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201202919	journal	October 2012
Optimum Carrier Concentration in n-Type PbTe Thermoelectrics Pei, Yanzhong; Gibbs, Zachary M.; Gloskovskii, Andrei Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201400486	journal	May 2014
Enhancement of Thermoelectric Performance of n-Type PbSe by Cr Doping with Optimized Carrier Concentration Zhang, Qian; Chere, Eyob Kebede; McEnaney, Kenneth Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201401977	journal	January 2015
High Efficiency Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Harvesting Zhu, Tiejun; Fu, Chenguang; Xie, Hanhui Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201500588	journal	July 2015
Lithium Doping to Enhance Thermoelectric Performance of MgAgSb with Weak Electron-Phonon Coupling Liu, Zihang; Wang, Yumei; Mao, Jun Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 6, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201502269	journal	January 2016
Engineering the Thermoelectric Transport in Half-Heusler Materials through a Bottom-Up Nanostructure Synthesis Zhao, Huaizhou; Cao, Binglei; Li, Shanming Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201700446	journal	May 2017
Microstructure and thermoelectric properties of a ZrNi1.1Sn half-Heusler alloy Chai, Yaw Wang; Oniki, Toshinori; Kimura, Yoshisato Acta Materialia, Vol. 85 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2014.11.042	journal	February 2015
The effect of an isoelectronic Ti–Zr substitution on Heusler nanoprecipitation and the thermoelectric properties of a (Ti0.2,Zr0.8)Ni1.1Sn half-Heusler alloy Chai, Yaw Wang; Oniki, Toshinori; Kenjo, Takahiro Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 662 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2015.12.098	journal	March 2016
High Thermoelectric Performance of Ag9GaSe6 Enabled by Low Cutoff Frequency of Acoustic Phonons Lin, Siqi; Li, Wen; Li, Shasha Joule, Vol. 1, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2017.09.006	journal	December 2017
A new n-type half-Heusler thermoelectric material NbCoSb Huang, Lihong; He, Ran; Chen, Shuo Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 70 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2015.06.022	journal	October 2015
Improved thermoelectric performance of n-type half-Heusler MCo1-xNixSb (M = Hf, Zr) He, Ran; Zhu, Hangtian; Sun, Jingying Materials Today Physics, Vol. 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.05.002	journal	June 2017
Anomalous electrical conductivity of n-type Te-doped Mg3.2Sb1.5Bi0.5 Mao, Jun; Wu, Yixuan; Song, Shaowei Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.08.001	journal	December 2017
Promising thermoelectric performance in van der Waals layered SnSe2 Wu, Yixuan; Li, Wen; Faghaninia, Alireza Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.10.001	journal	December 2017
How nanoparticles can change the figure of merit, ZT, and mechanical properties of skutterudites Rogl, G.; Rogl, P. Materials Today Physics, Vol. 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2017.12.004	journal	December 2017
Using the 18-Electron Rule To Understand the Nominal 19-Electron Half-Heusler NbCoSb with Nb Vacancies Zeier, Wolfgang G.; Anand, Shashwat; Huang, Lihong Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b04583	journal	January 2017
Enhancing Thermoelectric Performance of TiNiSn Half-Heusler Compounds via Modulation Doping Berry, Tanya; Fu, Chenguang; Auffermann, Gudrun Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 29, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02685	journal	August 2017
Realizing high figure of merit in heavy-band p-type half-Heusler thermoelectric materials Fu, Chenguang; Bai, Shengqiang; Liu, Yintu Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9144	journal	September 2015
High thermoelectric figure of merit by resonant dopant in half-Heusler alloys Chen, Long; Liu, Yamei; He, Jian AIP Advances, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4986760	journal	June 2017
Effect of C and N Addition on Thermoelectric Properties of TiNiSn Half-Heusler Compounds Dow, Hwan; Kim, Woo; Shin, Weon Materials, Vol. 11, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11020262	journal	February 2018

Cited By (1)

Improving the Thermoelectric Properties of the Half-Heusler Compound VCoSb by Vanadium Vacancy Huang, Lihong; Wang, Junchen; Mo, Xiaobo Materials, Vol. 12, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12101637	journal	May 2019