Enhancing the thermoelectric performance of Cu1.8S by Sb/Sn co-doping and incorporating multiscale defects to scatter heat-carrying phonons

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices Vol. 7; no. 14; pp. 4026 - 4031
• Main Authors: Tang, Huaichao, Hua-Lu, Zhuang, Bowen, Cai, Asfandiyar, Dong, Jinfeng, Fu-Hua, Sun, Jing-Feng, Li
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Abundance; Antimony; Copper; Doping; Figure of merit; Mechanical alloying; Plasma sintering; Power factor; Spark plasma sintering; Thermal conductivity; Thermoelectric materials; Thermoelectricity; Tin; Toxicity
• ISSN: 2050-7526; 2050-7534
• DOI: 10.1039/c9tc01096c

Cu-based chalcogenides have attracted increasing attention as a potential thermoelectric material due to their unique structural features, high element abundance, and low toxicity. In this paper, a series of Cu1.8SbxSnyS compositions (0.01 < x < 0.04, 0.015 < y < 0.045) were prepared by a simple method combining mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The results demonstrate that Sb/Sn co-doping can optimize the hole concentration and substantially improve the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) of copper–sulfide Cu1.8S. The highest ZT, up to 1.2 at 773 K, was realized for the Cu1.8Sb0.02Sn0.03S sample and maintained a high power factor of 975 μW m−1 K−2. The reduction in thermal conductivity was linked to the heterogeneous phase of Cu12Sb4S13 and Cu4SnS4. Remarkably, after four testing cycles, the variation in ZT was less than 2%, indicating a good stability of the Sb/Sn co-doped Cu1.8S materials.