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Title: Solvothermal Synthesis of Tetrahedrite: Speeding Up the Process of Thermoelectric Material Generation

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI (United States)
  2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
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Derivatives of synthetic tetrahedrite, Cu12Sb4S13, are receiving increasing attention in the thermoelectric community due to their exploitation of plentiful, relatively nontoxic elements, combined with a thermoelectric performance that rivals that of PbTe-based compounds. However, traditional synthetic methods require weeks of annealing at high temperatures (450–600 °C) and periodic regrinding of the samples. Here we report a solvothermal method to produce tetrahedrite that requires only 1 day of heating at a relatively low temperature (155 °C). This allows preparation of multiple samples at once and is potentially scalable. The solvothermal material described herein demonstrates a dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) vs temperature curve comparable to that of solid-state tetrahedrite, achieving the same ZT of 0.63 at ~720 K. In conclusion, as with the materials from solid-state synthesis, products from this rapid solvothermal synthesis can be improved by mixing in a 1:1 molar ratio with the Zn-containing natural mineral, tennantite, to achieve 0.9 mol equiv of Zn. This leads to a 36% increase in ZT at ~720 K for solvothermal tetrahedrite, to 0.85.

Research Organization:
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Revolutionary Materials for Solid State Energy Conversion (RMSSEC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0001054
OSTI ID:
1370342
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 7, Issue 42; Related Information: RMSSEC partners with Michigan State University (lead); University of California, Los Angeles; University of Michigan; Northwestern University; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Ohio State University; Wayne State University; ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 32 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

Recent developments in Earth-abundant copper-sulfide thermoelectric materials journal September 2019
Copper Sulfides: Earth‐Abundant and Low‐Cost Thermoelectric Materials journal April 2019
Research Update: Cu–S based synthetic minerals as efficient thermoelectric materials at medium temperatures journal October 2016
Thermoelectric and electronic properties of chromium substituted tetrahedrite journal February 2019
Effect of Composition on Thermoelectric Properties of As-Cast Materials: The Cu12−xCoxSb4S13−ySey Case journal January 2019

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
tennantite
mineral
zinc doping
ZT
Cu12Sb4S13