Exceptional figure of merit achieved in boron-dispersed GeTe-based thermoelectric composites

Yilin Jiang, Bin Su, Jincheng Yu, Zhanran Han, Haihua Hu, Hua-Lu Zhuang, Hezhang Li, Jinfeng Dong, Jing-Wei Li, Chao Wang, Zhen-Hua Ge, Jing Feng, Fu-Hua Sun and Jing-Feng Li ()
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Yilin Jiang: Tsinghua University
Bin Su: Tsinghua University
Jincheng Yu: Tsinghua University
Zhanran Han: Tsinghua University
Haihua Hu: Tsinghua University
Hua-Lu Zhuang: Tsinghua University
Hezhang Li: Tsinghua University
Jinfeng Dong: Tsinghua University
Jing-Wei Li: Tsinghua University
Chao Wang: Tsinghua University
Zhen-Hua Ge: Southwest United Graduate School
Jing Feng: Southwest United Graduate School
Fu-Hua Sun: Hubei Normal University
Jing-Feng Li: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract GeTe is a promising p-type material with increasingly enhanced thermoelectric properties reported in recent years, demonstrating its superiority for mid-temperature applications. In this work, the thermoelectric performance of GeTe is improved by a facile composite approach. We find that incorporating a small amount of boron particles into the Bi-doped GeTe leads to significant enhancement in power factor and simultaneous reduction in thermal conductivity, through which the synergistic modulation of electrical and thermal transport properties is realized. The thermal mismatch between the boron particles and the matrix induces high-density dislocations that effectively scatter the mid-frequency phonons, accounting for a minimum lattice thermal conductivity of 0.43 Wm−1K−1 at 613 K. Furthermore, the presence of boron/GeTe interfaces modifies the interfacial potential barriers, resulting in increased Seebeck coefficient and hence enhanced power factor (25.4 μWcm−1K−2 at 300 K). Consequently, we obtain a maximum figure of merit Zmax of 4.0 × 10−3 K−1 at 613 K in the GeTe-based composites, which is the record-high value in GeTe-based thermoelectric materials and also superior to most of thermoelectric systems for mid-temperature applications. This work provides an effective way to further enhance the performance of GeTe-based thermoelectrics.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50175-6

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