Enhanced thermoelectric performance and mechanical strength of n-type BiTeSe materials produced via a composite strategy

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Yang, Guangsai
Sang, Lina
Mitchell, David RG
Yun, Frank Fei
See, Khay Wai
Ahmed, Al Jumlat
Sayyar, Sepidar
Bake, Abuduliken
Liu, Peng
Chen, Lei
Yue, Zengji
Cortie, David
Wang, Xiaolin
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2022
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

Zone-melted Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 (ZM BTS) alloys are typical n-type commercial thermoelectric (TE) materials and are utilized for refrigeration and power generation near room temperature. They usually suffer from poor mechanical performance, as well as having a low figure of merit (ZT). In this work, we report an effective composite strategy to improve both the TE and mechanical performance of n-type BTS materials by incorporating carbon microfibers. The introduction of carbon microfibers in BTS effectively reduces the lattice thermal conductivity due to phonon scattering at multi-scale boundaries and due to the large interfacial thermal resistance arising from phonon mismatch between the constituent phases. Simultaneously, it also gives rise to an enhancement of the electrical conductivity, which originates from the increased carrier density without significant limitation on its weighted mobility. Consequently, a high peak ZT of 1.1 at 400 K and an average ZTave value of 0.95 are achieved in the temperature range 300 ~ 550 K, yielding a calculated efficiency of η = 9%. Moreover, the BTS/carbon microfiber composites show superior compressive strength compared to a commercial ZM BTS sample. This improved strength is highly desirable for real-world TE applications. Our results demonstrate a novel way to produce high-performance TE materials, in which interfaces with large thermal resistance are used to achieve low thermal conductivity without significantly degrading the electrical properties of the materials.

Journal Title

Chemical Engineering Journal

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

428

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Chemical engineering

Environmental engineering

Materials engineering

Science & Technology

Technology

Engineering, Environmental

Engineering, Chemical

Engineering

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Yang, G; Sang, L; Mitchell, DRG; Yun, FF; See, KW; Ahmed, AJ; Sayyar, S; Bake, A; Liu, P; Chen, L; Yue, Z; Cortie, D; Wang, X, Enhanced thermoelectric performance and mechanical strength of n-type BiTeSe materials produced via a composite strategy, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 428

Collections