Monolithic Bi1.5Sb0.5Te3 ternary alloys with a periodic 3D nanostructure for enhancing thermoelectric performanceElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of fabrication processes and thermoelectric measurement. See DOI: 10.1039/c7tc02717f
The selective reduction of thermal conductivity while preserving the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity is regarded as a key strategy for achieving the high dimensionless figure-of-merit ( ZT ) of thermoelectric materials. Here, we newly propose a periodic three-dimensional (3D) nanostr...
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
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Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
14.09.2017
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The selective reduction of thermal conductivity while preserving the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity is regarded as a key strategy for achieving the high dimensionless figure-of-merit (
ZT
) of thermoelectric materials. Here, we newly propose a periodic three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure that has an ability to significantly reduce thermal conductivity, resulting in an improved
ZT
value of thermoelectric materials near room temperature. A 3D nanostructured thermoelectric monolith is developed by electrochemical deposition of a Bi-Sb-Te ternary alloy into a highly ordered, interstitial porous network in an epoxy template predefined by advanced lithography. The resultant inch-scale, bicontinuous nanocomposite monolith released from a substrate can be easily transferred to a customized reliable platform for evaluating thermoelectric properties. The measured thermal conductivity is only ∼0.89 W mK
−1
at 350 K due to greatly increased phonon boundary scattering without any degradation in the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, leading to an enhanced
ZT
value (∼0.56) which is ∼50% higher than that of an ordinary film with the same elemental composition. The 3D nanostructure developed here will provide new design opportunities for nanostructured thermoelectric materials, potentially usable in flexible thermoelectric coolers and wearable energy harvesting systems.
We newly propose a periodic 3D nanostructure to reduce the thermal conductivity of Bi
1.5
Sb
0.5
Te
3
ternary alloys, which results in a greatly enhanced figure of merit (>50%). |
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Bibliography: | 10.1039/c7tc02717f Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of fabrication processes and thermoelectric measurement. See DOI |
ISSN: | 2050-7526 2050-7534 |
DOI: | 10.1039/c7tc02717f |