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Title: Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)

Abstract

The large-scale implementation of thermoelectric devices is inhibited, in part, by the limited temperature range where each material can operate at its highest efficiency, as evaluated by the dimensionless figure of merit (zT = S2σT/κ). To date, Bi2Te3-based materials have been restricted to zT ≥ 1 between 300-500 K, before the onset of bipolar conduction reduces the zT significantly. Herein, we show that a scalable, low-temperature solution process method can be used to synthesize precursor material for Pb-doped BixSb2-xTe3 bulk nanocomposites with a zT = 1 over the 500-600 K range, making this material suitable for low-grade waste heat recovery for the first time. Our success in increasing the efficiency of p-type BixSb2-xTe3 at higher temperatures can be largely explained by the increase in the optical band gap, according to the Burstein-Moss shift, due to Pb doping, thus delaying the onset of bipolar conduction. Furthermore, the solution synthesis method enabled controlled nanostructuring of the bulk materials, which greatly reduced the thermal conductivity over the investigated temperature range. Lastly, our scalable synthesis processing method may be applicable to not only other thermoelectrics, but also in fields such as photocatalysis, electronics and optoelectronics.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
  2. Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
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)
OSTI Identifier:
1388397
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577; SC0014520
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Advanced Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 29; Journal Issue: 10; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Journal ID: ISSN 0935-9648
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; solar (photovoltaic); solar (thermal); solid state lighting; phonons; thermal conductivity; thermoelectric; defects; mechanical behavior; charge transport; spin dynamics; materials and chemistry by design; optics; synthesis (novel materials); synthesis (self-assembly); synthesis (scalable processing); nanocomposites; nanoheterostructures; solution synthesis

Citation Formats

Xu, Biao, Agne, Matthias T., Feng, Tianli, Chasapis, Thomas C., Ruan, Xiulin, Zhou, Yilong, Zheng, Haimei, Bahk, Je -Hyeong, Kanatzidis, Mercouri G., Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey, and Wu, Yue. Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K). United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1002/adma.201605140.
Xu, Biao, Agne, Matthias T., Feng, Tianli, Chasapis, Thomas C., Ruan, Xiulin, Zhou, Yilong, Zheng, Haimei, Bahk, Je -Hyeong, Kanatzidis, Mercouri G., Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey, & Wu, Yue. Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K). United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201605140
Xu, Biao, Agne, Matthias T., Feng, Tianli, Chasapis, Thomas C., Ruan, Xiulin, Zhou, Yilong, Zheng, Haimei, Bahk, Je -Hyeong, Kanatzidis, Mercouri G., Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey, and Wu, Yue. Fri . "Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201605140. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1388397.
@article{osti_1388397,
title = {Nanocomposites from Solution-Synthesized PbTe-BiSbTe Nanoheterostructure with Unity Figure of Merit at Low-Medium Temperatures (500-600 K)},
author = {Xu, Biao and Agne, Matthias T. and Feng, Tianli and Chasapis, Thomas C. and Ruan, Xiulin and Zhou, Yilong and Zheng, Haimei and Bahk, Je -Hyeong and Kanatzidis, Mercouri G. and Snyder, Gerald Jeffrey and Wu, Yue},
abstractNote = {The large-scale implementation of thermoelectric devices is inhibited, in part, by the limited temperature range where each material can operate at its highest efficiency, as evaluated by the dimensionless figure of merit (zT = S2σT/κ). To date, Bi2Te3-based materials have been restricted to zT ≥ 1 between 300-500 K, before the onset of bipolar conduction reduces the zT significantly. Herein, we show that a scalable, low-temperature solution process method can be used to synthesize precursor material for Pb-doped BixSb2-xTe3 bulk nanocomposites with a zT = 1 over the 500-600 K range, making this material suitable for low-grade waste heat recovery for the first time. Our success in increasing the efficiency of p-type BixSb2-xTe3 at higher temperatures can be largely explained by the increase in the optical band gap, according to the Burstein-Moss shift, due to Pb doping, thus delaying the onset of bipolar conduction. Furthermore, the solution synthesis method enabled controlled nanostructuring of the bulk materials, which greatly reduced the thermal conductivity over the investigated temperature range. Lastly, our scalable synthesis processing method may be applicable to not only other thermoelectrics, but also in fields such as photocatalysis, electronics and optoelectronics.},
doi = {10.1002/adma.201605140},
journal = {Advanced Materials},
number = 10,
volume = 29,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

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