Mechanical properties of thermoelectric generators

To satisfy the requirements of practical applications,thermoelectric generators should be highly efficient and mechanically robust.Recently,progress in designing high-performance thermoelectric generators has been made.However,the mechanical properties of thermoelectric generators are still unsatisfactory.In this review,studies on the mechanical properties of thermoelectric generators are summarized.The me-chanical properties of bulk thermoelectric generators will be first discussed.In this section,the mechan-ical properties of thermoelectric materials and the strategies for improving their mechanical properties are emphasized.Since the device’s failure usually occurs at the interface between the thermoelectric ma-terials and electrode,the joint strength of electrodes and thermoelectric materials will be overviewed.After that,the mechanical properties of the inorganic thin-film thermoelectric devices will be discussed.Since the figure of merit for the flexibility of thermoelectric materials depends on the film thickness,elastic modulus,and yield strength,the synthesis methods of thin-film thermoelectric materials will be reviewed.Finally,this review will be concluded with a discussion on flexible organic thermoelectric de-vices and flexible devices using bulk legs.

Realizing n-type CdSb with promising thermoelectric performance

Realizing high performance in both n-type and p-type materials is essential for designing efficient ther-moelectric devices.However,the doping bottleneck is often encountered,i.e.,only one type of conduction can be realized.As one example,p-type CdSb with high thermoelectric performance has been discovered for several decades,while its n-type counterpart has rarely been reported.In this work,the calculated band structure of CdSb demonstrates that the valley degeneracy is as large as ten for the conduction band,and it is only two for the valence band.Therefore,the n-type CdSb can potentially realize an ex-ceptional thermoelectric performance.Experimentally,the n-type conduction has been successfully real-ized by tuning the stoichiometry of CdSb.By further doping indium at the Cd site,an improved room-temperature electron concentration has been achieved.Band modeling predicts an optimal electron con-centration of∼2.0×1019 cm−3,which is higher than the current experimental values.Therefore,future optimization of the n-type CdSb should mainly focus on identifying practical approaches to optimize the electron concentration.

Revealing the Defect-Dominated Electron Scattering in Mg_(3)Sb_(2)-Based Thermoelectric Materials

The thermoelectric parameters are essentially governed by electron and phonon transport.Since the carrier scattering mechanism plays a decisive role in electron transport,it is of great significance for the electrical properties of thermoelectric materials.As a typical example,the defect-dominated carrier scattering mechanism can significantly impact the room-temperature electron mobility of n-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)-based materials.However,the origin of such a defect scattering mechanism is still controversial.Herein,the existence of the Mg vacancies and Mg interstitials has been identified by synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction.The relationship among the point defects,chemical compositions,and synthesis conditions in Mg_(3)Sb_(2)-based materials has been revealed.By further introducing the point defects without affecting the grain size via neutron irradiation,the thermally activated electrical conductivity can be reproduced.Our results demonstrate that the point defects scattering of electrons is important in the n-type Mg_(3)Sb_(2)-based materials.