Enhancing thermoelectric performance of Cu3SnS4-based solid solutions through coordination of the Seebeck coefficient and carrier concentration

Yang, Yuanbo, Ying, Penzhan, Wang, Jinzhi, Liu, Xianglian, Du, Zheng-Liang, Chao, Yimin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8488-2690 and Cui, Jiaolin (2017) Enhancing thermoelectric performance of Cu3SnS4-based solid solutions through coordination of the Seebeck coefficient and carrier concentration. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 5 (35). pp. 18808-18815. ISSN 2050-7488

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Abstract

Improving the thermoelectric (TE) performance of Cu3SnS4 is challenging because it exhibits a metallic behavior, therefore, a strategy should be envisaged to coordinate the carrier concentration (nH) and Seebeck coefficient (α). The coordination in this work has been realized through the Fermi level (Ef) unpinning and shifting towards the conduction band (CB) via addition of excess Sn in Cu3SnS4. As a result, the solid solution Cu3Sn1+xS4 (x = 0.2) has a moderate α (178.0 μV K−1) at 790 K and a high nH (1.54 × 1021 cm−3) value. Along with the lowest lattice thermal conductivity κL (0.39 W K−1 m−1) caused by the increased phonon scattering by carriers, the highest ZT value of 0.75 is attained at ∼790 K. This value is 2.8 times that of the stoichiometric Cu3SnS4, and stands among the highest for ternary Cu–Sn–S sulfide thermoelectrics at the corresponding temperatures. More importantly, this approach used in the case of ternary Cu3SnS4 provides a guidance or reference to improve the TE performance of other materials.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Physical and Analytical Chemistry (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Chemistry of Materials and Catalysis
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Energy Materials Laboratory
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Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 22 Aug 2017 06:35
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2022 03:03
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/64632
DOI: 10.1039/C7TA05253G

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