Microstructural iterative reconstruction toward excellent thermoelectric performance in MnTe

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Yiyuan Luo - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)
  • Jinghan Wang - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)
  • Jianmin Yang - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)
  • Dasha Mao - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)
  • Juan Cui - , IAPCM (Author)
  • Baohai Jia - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)
  • Xusheng Liu - , University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Author)
  • Kornelius Nielsch - , Chair of Metallic Materials and Metal Physics, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Xiao Xu - , Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (Author)
  • Jiaqing He - , Southern University of Science and Technology (Author)

Abstract

Earth-abundant manganese telluride (MnTe) with a hexagonal structure has shown significant thermoelectric conversion potential; however, the drawbacks of low carrier concentration and low mobility have limited its application. Herein, we constructed a type of layer structure by fabricating polycrystalline MnSb2Te4, increasing the hole density by 100 times. The introduced van der Waals gaps effectively enhanced the phonon scattering, further suppressing the intrinsic low thermal conductivity. The reduced hole concentration in the Ge-doped MnSb2Te4-based specimens, verified by both theoretical calculations and experimental characterization studies, was unexpectedly found to enhance mobility by reducing the intervalley scattering of carriers, resulting in a record high average ZT value of 0.71 from 300 K to 823 K and an excellent peak ZT value of 1.3 at 823 K. Hence, an Mn0.96Ge0.04Sb2Te4-based single stage generating module was successfully assembled with a competitive performance of 0.81 W (0.45 W cm−2) and 4.6% over a temperature gradient of 480 K. This tailored investigation created an outstanding MnTe-based specimen, which could serve as a candidate for application in thermoelectric generators.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3743-3752
Number of pages10
JournalEnergy and Environmental Science
Volume16
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jul 2023
Peer-reviewedYes