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Stabilizing Thermoelectric Figure‐of‐Merit of Superionic Conductor Cu 2 Se through W Nanoinclusions
Author(s) -
Bohra Anil Kumar,
Bhatt Ranu,
Singh Ajay,
Bhattacharya Shovit,
Basu Ranita,
Bhatt Pramod,
Navaneethan Mani,
Sarkar Shaibal K.,
Anwar Shahid,
Muthe Kunal Puranchand,
Aswal Dinesh Kumar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
physica status solidi (rrl) – rapid research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.786
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1862-6270
pISSN - 1862-6254
DOI - 10.1002/pssr.202000102
Subject(s) - materials science , figure of merit , condensed matter physics , thermoelectric effect , thermal stability , phonon scattering , ion , nanocomposite , scattering , charge carrier , grain boundary , phonon , conductor , nanotechnology , microstructure , chemistry , composite material , physics , thermodynamics , optics , optoelectronics , organic chemistry
Cu 2 Se exhibits a high figure‐of‐merit ( ZT ) >1 due to the scattering of phonons by mobile Cu + ions, but migration of the Cu + ions leads to chemical instability at high temperature. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of W in the Cu 2 Se matrix results in peak ZT of 2.1 ( ZT avg = 0.93) at 878 K. After the first thermal cycle, the peak ZT of the composite decreases to stable value of ≈1.5 ( ZT avg = 0.97). The enhanced stability of the nanocomposite along with high ZT avg is attributed to the covering of Cu 2 Se grain boundaries with W that inhibits Cu + migration, reduces Se loss, and improves charge carrier mobility.