Colloidal AgSbBiSe nanocrystals as n‑type thermoelectric materials.

J Colloid Interface Sci

Catalonia Institute for Energy Research-IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona 08930, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Electronic address:

Published: February 2025

AI Article Synopsis

  • Low intrinsic thermal conductivity materials are key for creating efficient thermoelectric devices, and they can be produced cost-effectively using solution processing.
  • A new method for synthesizing AgSbBiSe nanocrystals has been developed using amine-thiol-Se chemistry, resulting in a material with extremely low thermal conductivity (about 0.34 W/mK at 760 K) after hot-pressing.
  • A technique called modulation doping, by blending AgSbBiSe with metallic Sn nanocrystals, not only adjusts the charge carrier concentration but also helps further decrease thermal conductivity, achieving a high thermoelectric performance (figure of merit of 0.64 at 760 K) and good hardness properties.

Article Abstract

Materials with low intrinsic thermal conductivity are essential for the development of high-performance thermoelectric devices. At the same time, the solution processing of these materials may enable the cost-effective production of the devices. Herein, we detail a high-yield and scalable colloidal synthesis route to produce AgSbBiSe nanocrystals (NCs) using amine-thiol-Se chemistry. The quaternary chalcogenide material is consolidated by a rapid hot-press maintaining the cubic crystalline structure. Transport measurements confirm that n-type AgSbBiSe exhibits an inherently ultralow lattice thermal conductivity of ca. 0.34 W mK at 760 K. Moreover, a modulation doping strategy based on the blending of semiconductor AgSbBiSe and metallic Sn NCs is demonstrated to control the charge carrier concentration in the final composite material. The introduction of Sn nanodomains additionally blocks phonon propagation thus contributing to reducing the thermal conductivity of the final material. Ultimately, a peak thermoelectric figure of merit value of 0.64 at 760 K is achieved for n-type AgSbBiSe-Sn nanocomposites that also demonstrate a notable Vickers hardness of 185 HV.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2024.10.035DOI Listing

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