Premium
Promoting SnTe as an Eco‐Friendly Solution for p‐PbTe Thermoelectric via Band Convergence and Interstitial Defects
Author(s) -
Li Wen,
Zheng Linglang,
Ge Binghui,
Lin Siqi,
Zhang Xinyue,
Chen Zhiwei,
Chang Yunjie,
Pei Yanzhong
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201605887
Subject(s) - materials science , thermoelectric materials , thermoelectric effect , condensed matter physics , figure of merit , valence band , thermal conductivity , engineering physics , optoelectronics , electronic band structure , lattice (music) , nanotechnology , band gap , thermodynamics , composite material , physics , acoustics
Compared to commercially available p‐type PbTe thermoelectrics, SnTe has a much bigger band offset between its two valence bands and a much higher lattice thermal conductivity, both of which limit its peak thermoelectric figure of merit, zT of only 0.4. Converging its valence bands or introducing resonant states is found to enhance the electronic properties, while nanostructuring or more recently introducing interstitial defects is found to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. Even with an integration of some of the strategies above, existing efforts do not enable a peak zT exceeding 1.4 and usually involve Cd or Hg. In this work, a combination of band convergence and interstitial defects, each of which enables a ≈150% increase in the peak zT , successfully accumulates the zT enhancements to be ≈300% ( zT up to 1.6) without involving any toxic elements. This opens new possibilities for further improvements and promotes SnTe as an environment‐friendly solution for conventional p‐PbTe thermoelectrics.