Broad temperature plateau for thermoelectric figure of merit ZT>2 in phase-separated PbTe0.7S0.3

H. J. Wu, L.-D. Zhao, F. S. Zheng, D. Wu, Y. L. Pei, X. Tong, M. G. Kanatzidis () and J. Q. He ()
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H. J. Wu: South University of Science and Technology of China
L.-D. Zhao: Northwestern University
F. S. Zheng: South University of Science and Technology of China
D. Wu: South University of Science and Technology of China
Y. L. Pei: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University
X. Tong: South University of Science and Technology of China
M. G. Kanatzidis: Northwestern University
J. Q. He: South University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Thermoelectrics interconvert heat to electricity and are of great interest in waste heat recovery, solid-state cooling and so on. The efficiency of thermoelectric materials depends directly on the average ZT (dimensionless figure of merit) over a certain temperature range, which historically has been challenging to increase. Here we report that 2.5% K-doped PbTe0.7S0.3 achieves a ZT of >2 for a very wide temperature range from 673 to 923 K and has a record high average ZT of 1.56 (corresponding to a theoretical energy conversion efficiency of ~20.7% at the temperature gradient from 300 to 900 K). The PbTe0.7S0.3 composition shows spinodal decomposition with large PbTe-rich and PbS-rich regions where each region exhibits dissimilar types of nanostructures. Such high average ZT is obtained by synergistically optimized electrical- and thermal-transport properties via carrier concentration tuning, band structure engineering and hierarchical architecturing, and highlights a realistic prospect of wide applications of thermoelectrics.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5515

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