Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in 18-Electron Nb0.8 CoSb Half-Heusler Compound with Intrinsic Nb Vacancies

Xia, Kaiyang; Liu, Yintu; Anand, Shashwat; Snyder, G. Jeffrey; Xin, Jiazhan; Yu, Junjie; Zhao, Xinbing; Zhao, X. B.; Zhu, Tiejun

doi:10.1002/adfm.201705845

Title: Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in 18-Electron Nb_0.8 CoSb Half-Heusler Compound with Intrinsic Nb Vacancies

Journal Article · Fri Jan 05 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Advanced Functional Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201705845· OSTI ID:1470455

Xia, Kaiyang ^[1]; Liu, Yintu ^[1]; Anand, Shashwat ^[2]; Snyder, G. Jeffrey ^[2]; Xin, Jiazhan ^[1]; Yu, Junjie ^[1]; Zhao, Xinbing ^[3]; Zhao, X. B. ^[1];

^[1]

Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou (China). State Key Lab. of Silicon Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering
Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 China

Typical 18-electron half-Heusler compounds, ZrNiSn and NbFeSb, are identified as promising high-temperature thermoelectric materials. NbCoSb with nominal 19 valence electrons, which is supposed to be metallic, is recently reported to also exhibit thermoelectric properties of a heavily doped n-type semiconductor. Here for the first time, it is experimentally demonstrated that the nominal 19-electron NbCoSb is actually the composite of 18-electron Nb_0.8+δCoSb (0 ≤ δ < 0.05) and impurity phases. Single-phase Nb_0.8δ+CoSb with intrinsic Nb vacancies, following the 18-electron rule, possesses improved thermoelectric performance, and the slight change in the content of Nb vacancies has a profound effect on the thermoelectric properties. The carrier concentration can be controlled by varying the Nb deficiency, and the optimization of the thermoelectric properties can be realized within the narrow pure phase region. Benefiting from the elimination of impurity phases and the optimization of carrier concentration, thermoelectric performance is remarkably enhanced by ≈100% and a maximum zT of 0.9 is achieved in Nb_0.83CoSb at 1123 K. Here, this work expands the family of half-Heusler thermoelectric materials and opens a new avenue for searching for nominal 19-electron half-Heusler compounds with intrinsic vacancies as promising thermoelectric materials.

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Research Organization:: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center (S3TEC)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577

OSTI ID:: 1470455

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1416251

Journal Information:: Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 28, Issue 9; Related Information: S3TEC partners with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (lead); Boston College; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; ISSN 1616-301X

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 114 works

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Low thermal conductivity and promising thermoelectric performance in A _x CoSb (A = V, Nb or Ta) half-Heuslers with inherent vacancies Ferluccio, Daniella A.; Halpin, John E.; MacIntosh, Kathryn L. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 7, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9tc00743a	journal	January 2019
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Title: Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in 18-Electron Nb0.8 CoSb Half-Heusler Compound with Intrinsic Nb Vacancies

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Title: Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in 18-Electron Nb_0.8 CoSb Half-Heusler Compound with Intrinsic Nb Vacancies