Defect‐Engineering‐Stabilized AgSbTe2 with High Thermoelectric Performance

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) generators enable the direct and reversible conversion between heat and electricity, providing applications in both refrigeration and power generation. In the last decade, several TE materials with relatively high figures of merit (zT) have been reported in the low‐ and high‐temperature regimes. However, there is an urgent demand for high‐performance TE materials working in the mid‐temperature range (400–700 K). Herein, p‐type AgSbTe2 materials stabilized with S and Se co‐doping are demonstrated to exhibit an outstanding maximum figure of merit (zTmax) of 2.3 at 673 K and an average figure of merit (zTave) of 1.59 over the wide temperature range of 300–673 K. This exceptional performance arises from an enhanced carrier density resulting from a higher concentration of silver vacancies, a vastly improved Seebeck coefficient enabled by the flattening of the valence band maximum and the inhibited formation of n‐type Ag2Te, and ahighly improved stability beyond 673 K. The optimized material is used to fabricate a single‐leg device with efficiencies up to 13.3% and a unicouple TE device reaching energy conversion efficiencies up to 12.3% at a temperature difference of 370 K. These results highlight an effective strategy to engineer high‐performance TE material in the mid‐temperature range.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Feb 05, 2023
Source ID
10.1002/adma.202208994

Entities

People

  • Amin Nozariasbmarz
  • Andreu Cabot
  • Aziz Genç
  • Bed Poudel
  • Christopher Wolverton
  • Gagan K. Goyal
  • Luyao Zheng
  • Na Liu
  • Sanghadasa Mf Mohan
  • Saurabh Singh
  • Seng Huat Lee
  • Shashank Priya
  • Sumanta Kumar Karan
  • Wenjie Li
  • Yi Xia
  • Yu Zhang
  • Zhi Li
  • Zhiqiang Mao

Organizations

  • Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
  • Catalonia Institute for Energy Research
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • National Science Foundation
  • Northwestern University
  • Office of Naval Research
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • United States Army
  • İzmir Institute of Technology

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • Solar Photovoltaics and Thermoelectric Devices.