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Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced and Functional Ceramics and Glasses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 14192

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Li-Dong Zhao

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Guest Editor

School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: thermoelectric; thermal conductivity; electrical conductivity; Seebeck coefficient

Prof. Dr. Lidong Chen

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructures, Shanghai Institute of Ceramic, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
Interests: materials science; nanocomposites; thermoelectric materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A large amount of our useful energy is lost as waste heat. Much of this wasted heat is of a high grade, and occurs in a distributed fashion. Therefore, there is a compelling need for high-performance thermoelectric materials that can directly and reversibly convert heat to electrical energy. In the past few decades, the exploration of high-performance thermoelectric materials has attracted ever-increasing attention from both the energy and environmental fields, and with a view to commercial applications. Considering the structural, electronic and compositional complexity of thermoelectric materials, the scope for further development would benefit greatly from close collaborations across a large scientific community of chemists, physicists and materials scientists. In this Special Issue, we will collect advanced thermoelectric research, including new material designs, thermoelectric devices, new thermoelectric transport theory, etc.

This Special Issue will provide readers with up-to-date information on the recent progress in thermoelectric materials. The topics of the Special Issue will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Thermoelectric devices;
Thermoelectric sulfides;
High-entropic thermoelectric materials;
Metal silicide thermoelectric materials;
Layered oxyselenides and thermoelectric properties;
Thermoelectric flexible fibers and its transport properties;
Thermoelectric materials with intrinsically low thermal conductivity;
Thermoelectric crystals’ growth and thermoelectric transport properties;
Ductile van der Waals materials and their thermoelectric and mechanical properties;
Nanoparticle synthesis using chemical solutions and bottom-up processed thermoelectric materials.

Prof. Dr. Li-Dong Zhao
Prof. Dr. Lidong Chen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

thermoelectric
figure of merit
nanostructures
Seebeck coefficient
electrical conductivity
thermal conductivity
phonon band structure
electronic band structure

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 5426 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ce Filling Limit and Its Influence on Thermoelectric Performance of Fe₃CoSb₁₂-Based Skutterudite Grown by a Temperature Gradient Zone Melting Method

by Xu-Guang Li, Wei-Di Liu, Shuang-Ming Li, Dou Li, Jia-Xi Zhu, Zhen-Yu Feng, Bin Yang, Hong Zhong, Xiao-Lei Shi and Zhi-Gang Chen

Materials 2021, 14(22), 6810; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14226810 - 11 Nov 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1563

Abstract

CoSb₃-based skutterudite is a promising mid-temperature thermoelectric material. However, the high lattice thermal conductivity limits its further application. Filling is one of the most effective methods to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity. In this study, we investigate the Ce filling limit and its influence on thermoelectric properties of p-type Fe₃CoSb₁₂-based skutterudites grown by a temperature gradient zone melting (TGZM) method. Crystal structure and composition characterization suggests that a maximum filling fraction of Ce reaches 0.73 in a composition of Ce_0.73Fe_2.73Co_1.18Sb₁₂ prepared by the TGZM method. The Ce filling reduces the carrier concentration to 1.03 × 10²⁰ cm⁻³ in the Ce_1.25Fe₃CoSb₁₂, leading to an increased Seebeck coefficient. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation indicates that the Ce-filling introduces an impurity level near the Fermi level. Moreover, the rattling effect of the Ce fillers strengthens the short-wavelength phonon scattering and reduces the lattice thermal conductivity to 0.91 W m⁻¹K⁻¹. These effects induce a maximum Seebeck coefficient of 168 μV K⁻¹ and a lowest κ of 1.52 W m⁻¹K⁻¹ at 693 K in the Ce_1.25Fe₃CoSb₁₂, leading to a peak zT value of 0.65, which is 9 times higher than that of the unfilled Fe₃CoSb₁₂. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices)

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9 pages, 4301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance by Surface Engineering in SnTe-PbS Nanocomposites

by Cheng Chang and Maria Ibáñez

Materials 2021, 14(18), 5416; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14185416 - 19 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2441

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials enable the direct conversion between heat and electricity. SnTe is a promising candidate due to its high charge transport performance. Here, we prepared SnTe nanocomposites by employing an aqueous method to synthetize SnTe nanoparticles (NP), followed by a unique surface treatment prior NP consolidation. This synthetic approach allowed optimizing the charge and phonon transport synergistically. The novelty of this strategy was the use of a soluble PbS molecular complex prepared using a thiol-amine solvent mixture that upon blending is adsorbed on the SnTe NP surface. Upon consolidation with spark plasma sintering, SnTe-PbS nanocomposite is formed. The presence of PbS complexes significantly compensates for the Sn vacancy and increases the average grain size of the nanocomposite, thus improving the carrier mobility. Moreover, lattice thermal conductivity is also reduced by the Pb and S-induced mass and strain fluctuation. As a result, an enhanced ZT of ca. 0.8 is reached at 873 K. Our finding provides a novel strategy to conduct rational surface treatment on NP-based thermoelectrics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices)

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11 pages, 1730 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Reduction of Thermal Conductivity for Icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe Quasicrystal through Heavy Element Substitution

by Yoshiki Takagiwa, Ryota Maeda, Satoshi Ohhashi and An-Pang Tsai

Materials 2021, 14(18), 5238; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14185238 - 12 Sep 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1757

Abstract

Icosahedral Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystal (QC) shows moderate electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity, and both p- and n-type conduction can be controlled by tuning the sample composition, making it potentially suited for thermoelectric materials. In this work, we investigated the effect of introducing chemical disorder through heavy element substitution on the thermal conductivity of Al-Cu-Fe QC. We substituted Au and Pt elements for Cu up to 3 at% in a composition of Al₆₃Cu₂₅Fe₁₂, i.e., Al₆₃Cu_25−x(Au,Pt)_xFe₁₂ (x = 0, 1, 2, 3). The substitutions of Au and Pt for Cu reduced the phonon thermal conductivity at 300 K (κ_ph,300K) by up to 17%. The reduction of κ_ph,300K is attributed to a decrease in the specific heat and phonon relaxation time through heavy element substitution. We found that increasing the Pt content reduced the specific heat at high temperatures, which may be caused by the locked state of phasons. The observed glass-like low values of κ_ph,300K (0.9–1.1 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 300 K) for Al₆₃Cu_25−x(Au,Pt)_xFe₁₂ are close to the lower limit calculated using the Cahill model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices)

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Review

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24 pages, 64170 KiB

Open AccessReview

New Progress on Fiber-Based Thermoelectric Materials: Performance, Device Structures and Applications

by Yanan Shen, Chunyang Wang, Xiao Yang, Jian Li, Rui Lu, Ruiyi Li, Lixin Zhang, Haisheng Chen, Xinghua Zheng and Ting Zhang

Materials 2021, 14(21), 6306; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14216306 - 22 Oct 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2911

Abstract

With the rapid development of wearable electronics, looking for flexible and wearable generators as their self-power systems has proved an extensive task. Fiber-based thermoelectric generators (FTEGs) are promising candidates for these self-powered systems that collect energy from the surrounding environment or human body to sustain wearable electronics. In this work, we overview performances and device structures of state-of-the-art fiber-based thermoelectric materials, including inorganic fibers (e.g., carbon fibers, oxide fibers, and semiconductor fibers), organic fibers, and hybrid fibers. Moreover, potential applications for related thermoelectric devices are discussed, and future developments in fiber-based thermoelectric materials are also briefly expected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices)

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18 pages, 5532 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

An Update Review on N-Type Layered Oxyselenide Thermoelectric Materials

by Junqing Zheng, Dongyang Wang and Li-Dong Zhao

Materials 2021, 14(14), 3905; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma14143905 - 13 Jul 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4310

Abstract

Compared with traditional thermoelectric materials, layered oxyselenide thermoelectric materials consist of nontoxic and lower-cost elements and have better chemical and thermal stability. Recently, several studies on n-type layered oxyselenide thermoelectric materials, including BiCuSeO, Bi₂O₂Se and Bi₆Cu₂Se₄O₆, were reported, which stimulates us to comprehensively summarize these researches. In this short review, we begin with various attempts to realize an n-type BiCuSeO system. Then, we summarize several methods to optimize the thermoelectric performance of Bi₂O₂Se, including carrier engineering, band engineering, microstructure design, et al. Next, we introduce a new type of layered oxyselenide Bi₆Cu₂Se₄O₆, and n-type transport properties can be obtained through halogen doping. At last, we propose some possible research directions for n-type layered oxyselenide thermoelectric materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thermoelectric Materials and Devices)

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