Impact of Anionic Substitution in YbMgSb As Compounds on the Electronic and Thermoelectric Properties.

The effects of anionic site substitution on the electronic transport properties of YbMgSb As compounds were investigated using density functional theory (DFT) with on-site Coulomb interaction correction (PBE+U). By replacing the Sb atoms at the four symmetry sites in YbMgSb with As, we found that the electronic and thermoelectric properties of the compound can be altered substantially. For most of the cases, the thermoelectric properties improve compared to the base compound YbMgSb.

YTe: A New n-Type Thermoelectric Material.

Rare-earth chalcogenides ( = La, Pr, Nd, = S, Se, and Te) have been extensively studied as high-temperature thermoelectric (TE) materials owing to their low lattice thermal conductivity (κ) and tunable electron carrier concentration cation vacancies. In this work, we introduce YTe, a rare-earth chalcogenide with a rocksalt-like vacancy-ordered structure, as a promising n-type TE material. We computationally evaluate the transport properties, optimized TE performance, and doping characteristics of YTe.

Synthesis and characterization of vacancy-doped neodymium telluride for thermoelectric applications.

Thermoelectric materials exhibit a voltage under an applied thermal gradient and are the heart of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which are the main power system for space missions such as I, II, and the Mars rover. However, materials currently in use enable only modest thermal-to-electrical conversion efficiencies near 6.5% at the system level, warranting the development of material systems with improved thermoelectric performance.

Thermoelectric Properties of Scandium Sesquitelluride.

Rare-earth (RE) tellurides have been studied extensively for use in high-temperature thermoelectric applications. Specifically, lanthanum and praseodymium-based compounds with the Th₃P₄ structure type have demonstrated dimensionless thermoelectric figures of merit () up to 1.7 at 1200 K.