Improvement of Mechanical and Thermoelectric Properties of AgCuTe by Pinning Effect and Enhanced Liquid-Like Behavior via SiC Alloying

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 16; no. 13; pp. 16290 - 16299
• Main Authors: Li, Lanwei, Zhai, Wenya, Wang, Chao, Li, Shuyao, Peng, Panpan, Fan, Pengya, Yang, Gui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 03.04.2024
• Subjects: Energy, Environmental, and Catalysis Applications; thermoelectric performance; SiC; pinning effect; liquid-like materials; AgCuTe
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c01019

With the development and application of thermoelectric (TE) devices, it requires not only high-performance of TE materials but also high mechanical properties. Here, we report a medium-temperature liquid material, AgCuTe, with high mechanical properties. The results demonstrate that AgCuTe possesses a multiphase structure characterized by abundant grain boundaries, resulting in reduced lattice thermal conductivity and inherently high mechanical strength. Furthermore, nano-SiC was alloyed into the AgCuTe material to further improve its mechanical and TE properties. Nano-SiC exhibited a button-like distribution within the grain boundaries, introducing a pinning effect that significantly elevated the Vickers hardness of the samples. Additionally, nano-SiC induced strong lattice distortion energy in the vicinity, which promotes Ag/Cu ions to escape from the lattice and enhances the liquid-like behavior of Ag/Cu ions. Finally, these enhancements led to a 21% improvement in the mechanical properties and a 40% improvement in the TE properties for AgCuTe. Notably, AgCuTe achieved its peak TE performance, with a latest peak ZT value of 1.32 at 723 K. This research expands the potential applications of AgCuTe.