Realizing High Thermoelectric Performance in n-Type Se-Free Bi_(2)Te_(3)Materials by Spontaneous Incorporation of FeTe_(2)Nanoinclusions

Bi_(2)Te_(3)-based materials have drawn much attention from the thermoelectric community due to their excellent thermoelectric performance near room temperature.However,the stability of existing n-type Bi_(2)(Te,Se)_(3)materials is still low due to the evaporation energy of Se(37.70 kJ mol^(-1))being much lower than that of Te(52.55 kJ mol^(-1)).The evaporated Se from the material causes problems in interconnects of the module while degrading the efficiency.Here,we have developed a new approach for the high-performance and stable n-type Se-free Bi_(2)Te_(3)-based materials bymaximizing the electronic transport while suppressing the phonon transport,at the same time.Spontaneously generated FeTe_(2)nanoinclusions within the matrix during the melt-spinning and subsequent spark plasma sintering is the key to simultaneous engineering of the power factor and lattice thermal conductivity.The nanoinclusions change the fermi level of the matrix while intensifying the phonon scattering via nanoparticles.With a fine-tuning of the fermi level with Cu doping in the n-type Bi_(2)Te_(3)-0.02FeTe_(2),a high power factor of∼41×10^(-4)Wm^(-1)K^(-2)with an average zT of 1.01 at the temperature range 300-470 K are achieved,which are comparable to those obtained in n-type Bi_(2)(Te,Se)_(3)materials.The proposed approach enables the fabrication of high-performance n-type Bi_(2)Te_(3)-based materials without having to include volatile Se element,which guarantees the stability of the material.Consequently,widespread application of thermoelectric devices utilizing the n-type Bi_(2)Te_(3)-based materials will become possible.

Thermoelectric Transport Properties of R_yFe_3NiSb_(12)(R=Ba,Nd and Yb)

To evaluate the influence of Ni substitution on electrical transport properties, the thermoelectric transport properties of the p-type skutterudites RyFe3NiSb12 （R = Ba, Nd and Yb） are systematically investigated from 2.5 K to 800 K. By carefully modifying the filling fractions of the three fillers, Ba, Nd and Yb, the carrier concentration is precisely adjusted, which changes proportionally to the nominal value calculated by valence counting rule. The carrier concentration dependences of mobility and Seebeck coefficient represent two band contribution in the valence band, and the optimized carrier concentration for thermoelectric performance is between （5-9） × 10^20 cm^-3. The lattice thermal conductivity of samples filled with rare-earth elements （Nd and Yb） are significantly lower as compared to Ba-filled, due to the lower resonant frequency and partial filling. Compared with Co substitution, Ni substitution tends to close the band gap, which results in heavier bipolar diffusion at high temperature for RyFe3NiSb12. However, due to state, when the carrier concentrations are similar, RyFe3NiSb12 possess higher thermal power and thus higher power factor than RyFe2Co2Sb12 in the lower temperature range. A ZT value of 0.73 is obtained for Yb0.77Fe3NiSb12 at 660 K.