Affiliation:
1. Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo 315201 China
2. Ningbo College of Materials Technology and Engineering University of Chinese Academy of Science Beijing 100049 China
3. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials & College of Materials Science and Engineering Donghua University Shanghai 201620 China
4. Normandie University ENSICAEN UNICAEN CNRS CRISMAT 14000 Caen France
Abstract
AbstractBismuth‐telluride‐based alloy is the sole thermoelectric candidate for commercial thermoelectric application in low‐grade waste heat harvest near room temperature, but the sharp drop of thermoelectric properties at higher temperature and weak mechanical strength in zone‐melted material are the main obstacles to its wide development for power generation. Herein, an effective approach is reported to improve the thermoelectric performance of p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 hot‐pressed sample by incorporating Ag5SbSe4. A peak ZT of 1.40 at 375 K and a high average ZT of 1.25 between 300 and 500 K are achieved. Such outstanding thermoelectric performance originates from the synergistic effects of improved density‐of‐states effective mass, reduced bipolar thermal conductivity by the boosted carrier concentration, and suppressed lattice thermal conductivity by the induced phonon scattering centers including substitute point defects, dislocations, stress–strain clusters, and grain boundaries. Comprised of the p‐type Bi0.42Sb1.58Te3 + 0.10 wt% Ag5SbSe4 and zone‐melted n‐type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3, the thermoelectric module exhibits a high conversion efficiency of 6.5% at a temperature gradient of 200 K, indicating promising applications for low‐grade heat harvest near room temperature.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Subject
Electrochemistry,Condensed Matter Physics,Biomaterials,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials