Understanding the asymmetrical thermoelectric performance for discovering promising thermoelectric materials

Zhu, Hangtian; Mao, Jun; Feng, Zhenzhen; Sun, Jifeng; Zhu, Qing; Liu, Zihang; Singh, David J.; Wang, Yumei; Ren, Zhifeng

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav5813

Title: Understanding the asymmetrical thermoelectric performance for discovering promising thermoelectric materials

Journal Article · 20 June 2019 · Science Advances

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav5813 · OSTI ID:1613120

^[1];

^[2]; Feng, Zhenzhen ^[3]; Sun, Jifeng ^[4]; Zhu, Qing ^[2]; Liu, Zihang ^[2];

^[4]; Wang, Yumei ^[5];

^[2]

Univ. of Houston, TX (United States); DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Hefei (China); Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China)
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)

Thermoelectric modules, consisting of multiple pairs of n- and p-type legs, enable converting heat into electricity and vice versa. However, the thermoelectric performance is often asymmetrical, in that one type outperforms the other. In this paper, we identified the relationship between the asymmetrical thermoelectric performance and the weighted mobility ratio, a correlation that can help predict the thermoelectric performance of unreported materials. Here, a reasonably high ZT for the n-type ZrCoBi-based half-Heuslers is first predicted and then experimentally verified. A high peak ZT of ~1 at 973 K can be realized by ZrCo_0.9Ni_0.1Bi_0.85Sb_0.15. The measured heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency for the unicouple of ZrCoBi-based materials can be as high as ~10% at the cold-side temperature of ~303 K and at the hot-side temperature of ~983 K. Our work demonstrates that the ZrCoBi-based half-Heuslers are highly promising for the application of mid- and high-temperature thermoelectric power generation.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Natural Science Foundation of China; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0019114

OSTI ID:: 1613120

Journal Information:: Science Advances, Journal Name: Science Advances Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 5; ISSN 2375-2548

Publisher:: AAASCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Characterization of rattling in relation to thermal conductivity: Ordered half-Heusler semiconductors Feng, Zhenzhen; Fu, Yuhao; Zhang, Yongsheng Physical Review B, Vol. 101, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.064301	journal	February 2020
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