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. 2022 Mar 19;15(6):2284.
doi: 10.3390/ma15062284.

Thermoelectric Properties of Cu2Te Nanoparticle Incorporated N-Type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3

Yong-Jae Jung  1 , Hyun-Sik Kim  2 , Jong Ho Won  3 , Minkyung Kim  1 , Minji Kang  4 , Eun Young Jang  1 , Nguyen Vu Binh  4 , Sang-Il Kim  2 , Kyoung-Seok Moon  5 , Jong Wook Roh  6 , Woo Hyun Nam  4 , Sang-Mo Koo  1 , Jong-Min Oh  1 , Jung Young Cho  4 , Weon Ho Shin  1
Affiliations

Thermoelectric Properties of Cu2Te Nanoparticle Incorporated N-Type Bi2Te2.7Se0.3

Yong-Jae Jung et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

To develop highly efficient thermoelectric materials, the generation of homogeneous heterostructures in a matrix is considered to mitigate the interdependency of the thermoelectric compartments. In this study, Cu2Te nanoparticles were introduced onto Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 n-type materials and their thermoelectric properties were investigated in terms of the amount of Cu2Te nanoparticles. A homogeneous dispersion of Cu2Te nanoparticles was obtained up to 0.4 wt.% Cu2Te, whereas the Cu2Te nanoparticles tended to agglomerate with each other at greater than 0.6 wt.% Cu2Te. The highest power factor was obtained under the optimal dispersion conditions (0.4 wt.% Cu2Te incorporation), which was considered to originate from the potential barrier on the interface between Cu2Te and Bi2Te2.7Se0.3. The Cu2Te incorporation also reduced the lattice thermal conductivity, and the dimensionless figure of merit ZT was increased to 0.75 at 374 K for 0.4 wt.% Cu2Te incorporation compared with that of 0.65 at 425 K for pristine Bi2Te2.7Se0.3. This approach could also be an effective means of controlling the temperature dependence of ZT, which could be modulated against target applications.

Keywords: Cu2Te; composite; n-type; thermoelectric.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) XRD pattern, (b) SEM image, (c) TEM image, and (d) high resolution TEM image of Cu2Te NPs, (e) XRD patterns of BTS-x wt.% Cu2Te NPs (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8), Cu K mapping images of EPMA for (f) BTS-0.2 wt.% Cu2Te NPs, (g) BTS-0.4 wt.% Cu2Te NPs, and (h) BTS-0.6 wt.% Cu2Te NPs, where the light dots correspond to elemental Cu.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Electrical properties of BTS-x wt.% Cu2Te NPs (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8). (a) Electrical conductivities, (b) electron carrier concentrations obtained by Hall measurement, (c) Seebeck coefficients, (d) power factors, (e) Pisarenko’s plot, and (f) band diagram of BTS and Cu2Te NPs interfaces.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Total thermal conductivities, (b) lattice thermal conductivities, (c) ZT values, and (d) average ZT values between room temperature and 470 K of BTS-x wt.% Cu2Te NPs (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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