High thermoelectric properties of Cu2TeAg2Te composite with Fe addition and non-stoichiometric Te

Wenxiu Li; Su Dun; Bin Xiao; Jun Wang; Xinba Yaer; Chun Ying; Ye Li; Xiaohuan Wang; Huijun Kang

Journal of Materiomics (Jan 2024)

High thermoelectric properties of Cu2TeAg2Te composite with Fe addition and non-stoichiometric Te

Wenxiu Li,
Su Dun,
Bin Xiao,
Jun Wang,
Xinba Yaer,
Chun Ying,
Ye Li,
Xiaohuan Wang,
Huijun Kang

Affiliations

Wenxiu Li: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Su Dun: Research and Development Center, HUA Cloud Intelligent Healthcare Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, 518000, China
Bin Xiao: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Jun Wang: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Xinba Yaer: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Chun Ying: College of Sciences, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Ye Li: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
Xiaohuan Wang: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China; Corresponding author.
Huijun Kang: Key Laboratory of Solidification Control and Digital Preparation Technology (Liaoning Province), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, China; Corresponding author.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 37 – 44

Abstract

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Cu2Te-based materials are a type of superionic conductor belonging to the class of phonon-liquid electron-crystal materials and have achieved high ZT values by doping and nanostructuring. However, it is easy to form copper vacancies in Cu2Te which leads to an excessive carrier concentration and then results in a low Seebeck coefficient. Hence, controlling copper ion migration and optimizing carrier concentration is essential to improve the thermoelectric performance of Cu2Te. This paper reports high-performance Cu2TeAg2Te composite with high application value in the low-middle temperature region, which is achieved by fine tuning the carrier concentration using Fe addition and non-stoichiometric Te, as well as controlling the thermal conductivity of composite. A high ZT of ∼1.2 is obtained in AgCu0.97Fe0.03Te0.96 at a low temperature of 573 K. Meanwhile, the phase transition mechanism of Cu2TeAg2Te and its effect on the thermoelectric transport performance are revealed that go beyond nanostructuring and single-doping, which provides a strong theoretical basis for research and performance improvement of thermoelectric materials in this system.

Published in Journal of Materiomics

ISSN: 2352-8478 (Print); 2352-8486 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-materiomics

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