Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance

Xu, Xiao1; Huang, Yi1; Liu, Xixi1; Jia, Baohai1; Cui, Juan1; He, Ran2; Wang, Jinghan1; Luo, Yiyuan1; Nielsch, Kornelius2; He, Jiaqing1

2022-09-01

10.1039/d2ee02336a

Energy & Environmental Science   Impact Factor & Quartile

1754-5692

1754-5706

The microstructure-dependent thermal transport property has drawn significant attention in the thermoelectric community for elevating thermoelectric performance. In this work, we characterized gap-like structures and improved their controllability in GeTe-rich Sb2Te3(GeTe)(n) samples. The statistics of the gap-like structures were studied through direct observation using a transmission electron microscope with atomic-resolved spherical aberration correction. We found a strong and unambiguous linear correlation of the nominal composition to the planar density and sizes of the gap-like structures. This microstructure tailoring further enabled a significant reduction in lattice thermal conductivity, an ultrahigh maximum ZT value of similar to 2.4 at 773 K, and an average ZT value of similar to 1.51 from 323 K to 773 K in p-type Sb2Te3(Ge0.995Yb0.005Te)(17). Together with n-type Pb0.985Sb0.015Te, we further fabricated a single-stage thermoelectric module that realized an exceptional output power density value of 1.25 W cm(-2) and an efficiency of 7.5% under a temperature gradient of 480 K. Our pioneering strategy validated the beneficial effect of gap-like-structure tailoring for improving thermoelectric performance, laying the groundwork for similar studies on other thermoelectric materials.

SCI

English

First ; Corresponding

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation[2021M691447] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China["11934007","11874194"] ; Science, Technology, and Innovation Committee Foundation of Shenzhen["JCYJ20200109141205978","ZDSYS20141118160434515"]

Chemistry ; Energy & Fuels ; Engineering ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Chemistry, Multidisciplinary ; Energy & Fuels ; Engineering, Chemical ; Environmental Sciences

WOS:000851568000001

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Web of Science

1.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Phys, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
2.IFW Dresden, Inst Metall Mat, D-01069 Dresden, Germany

Xu, Xiao,Huang, Yi,Liu, Xixi,et al. Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance[J]. Energy & Environmental Science,2022.

Xu, Xiao.,Huang, Yi.,Liu, Xixi.,Jia, Baohai.,Cui, Juan.,...&He, Jiaqing.(2022).Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance.Energy & Environmental Science.

Xu, Xiao,et al."Highly tailored gap-like structure for excellent thermoelectric performance".Energy & Environmental Science (2022).