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The Influence of Nanoscale Heterostructures on the Thermoelectric Properties of Bi‐substituted Tl 5 Te 3
Author(s) -
Heinke Frank,
Eisenburger Lucien,
Schlegel Robert,
Schwarzmüller Stefan,
Oeckler Oliver
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.354
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1521-3749
pISSN - 0044-2313
DOI - 10.1002/zaac.201600449
Subject(s) - nanoscopic scale , thermoelectric effect , heterojunction , materials science , thermoelectric materials , nanotechnology , condensed matter physics , engineering physics , optoelectronics , physics , thermodynamics
Tl 4.5 Bi 0.5 Te 3 crystallizes in a distorted variant of the Tl 5 Te 3 structure type in the space group I 4/ m . The symmetry reduction compared to Tl 5 Te 3 (space group I 4/ mcm ) is a consequence of cation ordering as shown by resonant X‐ray scattering using synchrotron radiation. Tl and Bi predominantly occupy one Wyckoff site each. This ordering is accompanied by displacements of Te atoms. The influence of nanostructuring on the thermoelectric performance of Tl 4.5 Bi 0.5 Te 3 was investigated for the new composite model system Tl 4.5 Bi 0.5 Te 3 – TlInTe 2 . For the nominal composition (Tl 4.5 Bi 0.5 Te 3 ) 0.6 (TlInTe 2 ) 0.4 , the thermoelectric Figure of merit ZT reaches 0.8 at 325 °C. Nanoscaled precipitates with sizes of about 100–200 nm probably have beneficial influence on the thermal conductivity at this temperature.