Enhanced thermoelectric properties of Co_(1-x-y)Ni_(x+y)Sb_(3-x)Sn_x materials

Co1-x-yNix＋ySb3-xSnx polycrystals were fabricated by vacuum melting combined with hot-press sintering. The effect of alloying on the thermoelectric properties of unfilled skutterudite CO1-xNixSb3-xSnx was investigated. A leap of electrical conductivity from the Co0.93Ni0.07Sb2.93Sn0.07 sample to the Co0.88Ni0.12Sb288Sn0.12 sample occurs during the measurement of electrical conductivity, indicating the adjustment of band structure by proper alloying. The results show that alloying enhances the power factor of the materials. On the basis of alloying, the thermoelectric properties of Coo.88Nio.12Sb2.ssSno.12 are improved by Ni-doping. The thermal conductivities of Ni-doping samples have no reduction, but their power factors have obvious enhancement. The power factor of Co0.81Ni0.09Sb2.88Sn0.12 reaches 3.0 mW-m-1·K-2 by Ni doping. The dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit reaches 0.55 at 773 K for the unfilled Co0.81Ni0.19 Sb2.88Sn0.12,

A simple Pb-doping to achieve bonding evolution, VSn and resonant level shifting for regulating thermoelectric transport behavior of SnTe

The intensification of energy crises and environmental pollution inspire researchers’attention to environment-friendly SnTe thermoelectric materials.In this work,we achieved a lower lattice thermal conductivity and optimized the power factor via the synergistic optimization of bonding characteristic,VSn,and resonant level for the SnTe system,respectively.Pb-introduction produces weak bonding strength,mass fluctuation,and stress distortion,which result in lower thermal conductivity.The lowest lattice thermal conductivity achieves 0.66 W m^(–1) K^(–1) at 773 K.Further introduced VSn relieves loss of electrical conductivity caused by Pb-introduction,and it also makes the bigger g(E)and up-shift of resonance level.The VSn,enhanced g(E),and resonant level make electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient enhance simultaneously.Finally,the further optimization of thermal and electronic transport performance contributes to a higher ZT value of∼0.86 at 773 K in the Sn_(0.685)Pb_(0.285)In_(0.015)Te_(0.7)Se_(0.3) sample.The strategy of bonding characteristic,VSn,and resonant level synergistic engineering will be widely applicable to various TE systems for achieving better thermoelectric performance.

Combining lymph node ratio to develop prognostic models for postoperative gastric neuroendocrine neoplasm patients

BACKGROUND Lymph node ratio(LNR)was demonstrated to play a crucial role in the prognosis of many tumors.However,research concerning the prognostic value of LNR in postoperative gastric neuroendocrine neoplasm(NEN)patients was limited.AIM To explore the prognostic value of LNR in postoperative gastric NEN patients and to combine LNR to develop prognostic models.METHODS A total of 286 patients from the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results database were divided into the training set and validation set at a ratio of 8:2.92 patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in China were designated as a test set.Cox regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between LNR and disease-specific survival(DSS)of gastric NEN patients.Random survival forest(RSF)algorithm and Cox proportional hazards(CoxPH)analysis were applied to develop models to predict DSS respectively,and compared with the 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC)tumornode-metastasis(TNM)staging.RESULTS Multivariate analyses indicated that LNR was an independent prognostic factor for postoperative gastric NEN patients and a higher LNR was accompanied by a higher risk of death.The RSF model exhibited the best performance in predicting DSS,with the C-index in the test set being 0.769[95%confidence interval(CI):0.691-0.846]outperforming the CoxPH model(0.744,95%CI:0.665-0.822)and the 8th edition AJCC TNM staging(0.723,95%CI:0.613-0.833).The calibration curves and decision curve analysis(DCA)demonstrated the RSF model had good calibration and clinical benefits.Furthermore,the RSF model could perform risk stratification and individual prognosis prediction effectively.CONCLUSION A higher LNR indicated a lower DSS in postoperative gastric NEN patients.The RSF model outperformed the CoxPH model and the 8th edition AJCC TNM staging in the test set,showing potential in clinical practice.

Texture and Se vacancy optimization induces high thermoelectric performance in Bi_(2)Se_(3) flexible thin films

Bi_(2)Se_(3)-based flexible thin film with high thermoelectric performance is promising for the waste heat recovery technology.In this work,a novel post-selenization method is employed to prepare n-type Bi_(2)Se_(3)flexible thin films with highly textured structure.The strengthened texture and Se vacancy optimization can be simultaneously achieved by optimizing the selenization temperature.The highly oriented texture leads to the increased carrier mobility and results in a high electric conductivity of~290.47 S·cm^(-1)at 623 K.Correspondingly,a high Seebeck coefficient(>110μW·K-1)is obtained due to the reduced carrier concentration,induced by optimizing vacancy engineering.Consequently,a high power factor of 3.49μW·cm^(-1)·K^(-2)at 623 K has been achieved in asprepared highly-bendable Bi_(2)Se_(3)flexible thin films selenized at 783 K.This study introduces an effective post-selenization method to tune the texture structure and vacancies of Bi_(2)Se_(3)flexible thin films,and correspondingly achieves high thermoelectric performance.