[{"year":"2021","day":"19","status":"public","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","title":"PbS–Pb–CuxS composites for thermoelectric application","external_id":{"pmid":["34665616"],"isi":["000715852100070"]},"scopus_import":"1","page":"51373–51382","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Composite materials offer numerous advantages in a wide range of applications, including thermoelectrics. Here, semiconductor–metal composites are produced by just blending nanoparticles of a sulfide semiconductor obtained in aqueous solution and at room temperature with a metallic Cu powder. The obtained blend is annealed in a reducing atmosphere and afterward consolidated into dense polycrystalline pellets through spark plasma sintering (SPS). We observe that, during the annealing process, the presence of metallic copper activates a partial reduction of the PbS, resulting in the formation of PbS–Pb–CuxS composites. The presence of metallic lead during the SPS process habilitates the liquid-phase sintering of the composite. Besides, by comparing the transport properties of PbS, the PbS–Pb–CuxS composites, and PbS–CuxS composites obtained by blending PbS and CuxS nanoparticles, we demonstrate that the presence of metallic lead decisively contributes to a strong increase of the charge carrier concentration through spillover of charge carriers enabled by the low work function of lead. The increase in charge carrier concentration translates into much higher electrical conductivities and moderately lower Seebeck coefficients. These properties translate into power factors up to 2.1 mW m–1 K–2 at ambient temperature, well above those of PbS and PbS + CuxS. Additionally, the presence of multiple phases in the final composite results in a notable decrease in the lattice thermal conductivity. Overall, the introduction of metallic copper in the initial blend results in a significant improvement of the thermoelectric performance of PbS, reaching a dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit ZT = 1.1 at 750 K, which represents about a 400% increase over bare PbS. Besides, an average ZTave = 0.72 in the temperature range 320–773 K is demonstrated."}],"project":[{"call_identifier":"H2020","name":"ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships","grant_number":"754411","_id":"260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425"},{"name":"HighTE: The Werner Siemens Laboratory for the High Throughput Discovery of Semiconductors for Waste Heat Recovery","_id":"9B8F7476-BA93-11EA-9121-9846C619BF3A"}],"_id":"10327","month":"10","issue":"43","type":"journal_article","quality_controlled":"1","date_updated":"2026-07-06T12:15:05Z","volume":13,"acknowledgement":"This work was supported by the European Regional Development Funds. M.L., Y.Z., X.H., and K.X. thank the China Scholarship Council for scholarship support. M. I. has been financially supported by IST Austria and the Werner Siemens Foundation. Y.L. acknowledges funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 754411. J.L. is a Serra Húnter fellow and is grateful to ICREA Academia program and projects MICINN/FEDER RTI2018-093996-B-C31 and GC 2017 SGR 128. ICN2 acknowledges funding from Generalitat de Catalunya 2017 SGR 327 and the Spanish MINECO project NANOGEN (PID2020-116093RB-C43). ICN2 was supported by the Severo Ochoa program from Spanish MINECO (grant no. SEV-2017-0706) and was funded by the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. X.H. thanks China Scholarship Council for scholarship support (201804910551). Part of the present work was performed in the framework of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Materials Science Ph.D. program.","pmid":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"author":[{"full_name":"Li, Mengyao","last_name":"Li","first_name":"Mengyao"},{"first_name":"Yu","last_name":"Liu","id":"2A70014E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","orcid":"0000-0001-7313-6740","full_name":"Liu, Yu"},{"first_name":"Yu","last_name":"Zhang","full_name":"Zhang, Yu"},{"last_name":"Han","full_name":"Han, Xu","first_name":"Xu"},{"first_name":"Ke","full_name":"Xiao, Ke","last_name":"Xiao"},{"first_name":"Mehran","last_name":"Nabahat","full_name":"Nabahat, Mehran"},{"full_name":"Arbiol, Jordi","last_name":"Arbiol","first_name":"Jordi"},{"last_name":"Llorca","full_name":"Llorca, Jordi","first_name":"Jordi"},{"last_name":"Ibáñez","orcid":"0000-0001-5013-2843","id":"43C61214-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","full_name":"Ibáñez, Maria","first_name":"Maria"},{"last_name":"Cabot","full_name":"Cabot, Andreu","first_name":"Andreu"}],"keyword":["CuxS","PbS","energy conversion","nanocomposite","nanoparticle","solution synthesis","thermoelectric"],"date_created":"2021-11-21T23:01:30Z","intvolume":"        13","isi":1,"article_type":"original","publication_status":"published","das_tickbox":"1","article_processing_charge":"No","doi":"10.1021/acsami.1c15609","publication":"ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces","ec_funded":1,"publisher":"American Chemical Society","citation":{"short":"M. Li, Y. Liu, Y. Zhang, X. Han, K. Xiao, M. Nabahat, J. Arbiol, J. Llorca, M. Ibáñez, A. Cabot, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 13 (2021) 51373–51382.","chicago":"Li, Mengyao, Yu Liu, Yu Zhang, Xu Han, Ke Xiao, Mehran Nabahat, Jordi Arbiol, Jordi Llorca, Maria Ibáñez, and Andreu Cabot. “PbS–Pb–CuxS Composites for Thermoelectric Application.” <i>ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society, 2021. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609</a>.","ista":"Li M, Liu Y, Zhang Y, Han X, Xiao K, Nabahat M, Arbiol J, Llorca J, Ibáñez M, Cabot A. 2021. PbS–Pb–CuxS composites for thermoelectric application. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 13(43), 51373–51382.","ama":"Li M, Liu Y, Zhang Y, et al. PbS–Pb–CuxS composites for thermoelectric application. <i>ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. 2021;13(43):51373–51382. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609\">10.1021/acsami.1c15609</a>","mla":"Li, Mengyao, et al. “PbS–Pb–CuxS Composites for Thermoelectric Application.” <i>ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 13, no. 43, American Chemical Society, 2021, pp. 51373–51382, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609\">10.1021/acsami.1c15609</a>.","apa":"Li, M., Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., Han, X., Xiao, K., Nabahat, M., … Cabot, A. (2021). PbS–Pb–CuxS composites for thermoelectric application. <i>ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c15609</a>","ieee":"M. Li <i>et al.</i>, “PbS–Pb–CuxS composites for thermoelectric application,” <i>ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 13, no. 43. American Chemical Society, pp. 51373–51382, 2021."},"corr_author":"1","date_published":"2021-10-19T00:00:00Z","main_file_link":[{"url":"https://upcommons.upc.edu/bitstream/2117/363528/1/Pb%20mengyao.pdf","open_access":"1"}],"department":[{"_id":"MaIb"}],"oa_version":"Submitted Version","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1944-8244"],"eissn":["1944-8252"]},"oa":1},{"day":"02","year":"2016","status":"public","user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","title":"Fe3O4@NiFexOy nanoparticles with enhanced electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution in carbonate electrolyte","external_id":{"pmid":["27730808"]},"scopus_import":"1","page":"29461 - 29469","abstract":[{"text":"The design and engineering of earth-abundant catalysts that are both cost-effective and highly active for water splitting are crucial challenges in a number of energy conversion and storage technologies. In this direction, herein we report the synthesis of Fe3O4@NiFexOy core-shell nanoheterostructures and the characterization of their electrocatalytic performance toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Such nanoparticles (NPs) were produced by a two-step synthesis procedure involving the colloidal synthesis of Fe3O4 nanocubes with a defective shell and the posterior diffusion of nickel cations within this defective shell. Fe3O4@NiFexOy NPs were subsequently spin-coated over ITO-covered glass and their electrocatalytic activity toward water oxidation in carbonate electrolyte was characterized. Fe3O4@NiFexOy catalysts reached current densities above 1 mA/cm2 with a 410 mV overpotential and Tafel slopes of 48 mV/dec, which is among the best electrocatalytic performances reported in carbonate electrolyte.","lang":"eng"}],"_id":"371","extern":"1","issue":"43","month":"11","type":"journal_article","quality_controlled":"1","volume":8,"date_updated":"2026-05-13T13:32:06Z","acknowledgement":"This work was supported by the European Regional Development Funds and the Spanish MINECO project BOOSTER, TNT-FUELS, e-TNT, Severo Ochoa Program (MINECO, Grant SEV-2013-0295), and PEC?CO2. Z.L. thanks the China Scholarship Council for scholarship support. P.G. acknowledges the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the FP7/2007-2013 European Union Program (TECNIOspring grant agreement no. 600388) and the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia, ACCIO. M.I. thanks AGAUR for Beatriu de Pinos postdoctoral grant (2013 BP-A00344).\r\n\r\n","pmid":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"author":[{"first_name":"Zhishan","full_name":"Luo, Zhishan","last_name":"Luo"},{"full_name":"Márti Sánchez, Sara","last_name":"Márti Sánchez","first_name":"Sara"},{"first_name":"Raquel","last_name":"Nafria","full_name":"Nafria, Raquel"},{"full_name":"Joshua, Gihan","last_name":"Joshua","first_name":"Gihan"},{"first_name":"Maria","last_name":"De La Mata","full_name":"De La Mata, Maria"},{"first_name":"Pablo","last_name":"Guardia","full_name":"Guardia, Pablo"},{"first_name":"Christina","last_name":"Flox","full_name":"Flox, Christina"},{"full_name":"Martínez Boubeta, Carlos","last_name":"Martínez Boubeta","first_name":"Carlos"},{"first_name":"Konstantinos","last_name":"Simeonidis","full_name":"Simeonidis, Konstantinos"},{"first_name":"Jordi","last_name":"Llorca","full_name":"Llorca, Jordi"},{"first_name":"Joan","last_name":"Morante","full_name":"Morante, Joan"},{"last_name":"Arbiol","full_name":"Arbiol, Jordi","first_name":"Jordi"},{"first_name":"Maria","last_name":"Ibanez Sabate","id":"43C61214-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","orcid":"0000-0001-5013-2843","full_name":"Ibanez Sabate, Maria"},{"first_name":"Andreu","full_name":"Cabot, Andreu","last_name":"Cabot"}],"publist_id":"7458","date_created":"2018-12-11T11:46:05Z","keyword":["nanoparticle","iron oxide","magnetite","core−shell nanostructure","electrocatalysts","oxygen evolution reaction","OER"],"intvolume":"         8","publication_status":"published","article_type":"original","publication":"Applied Materials and Interfaces","doi":"10.1021/acsami.6b09888","article_processing_charge":"No","citation":{"apa":"Luo, Z., Márti Sánchez, S., Nafria, R., Joshua, G., De La Mata, M., Guardia, P., … Cabot, A. (2016). Fe3O4@NiFexOy nanoparticles with enhanced electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution in carbonate electrolyte. <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888</a>","mla":"Luo, Zhishan, et al. “Fe3O4@NiFexOy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties for Oxygen Evolution in Carbonate Electrolyte.” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 8, no. 43, American Chemical Society, 2016, pp. 29461–69, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888\">10.1021/acsami.6b09888</a>.","ieee":"Z. Luo <i>et al.</i>, “Fe3O4@NiFexOy nanoparticles with enhanced electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution in carbonate electrolyte,” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 8, no. 43. American Chemical Society, pp. 29461–29469, 2016.","short":"Z. Luo, S. Márti Sánchez, R. Nafria, G. Joshua, M. De La Mata, P. Guardia, C. Flox, C. Martínez Boubeta, K. Simeonidis, J. Llorca, J. Morante, J. Arbiol, M. Ibáñez, A. Cabot, Applied Materials and Interfaces 8 (2016) 29461–29469.","chicago":"Luo, Zhishan, Sara Márti Sánchez, Raquel Nafria, Gihan Joshua, Maria De La Mata, Pablo Guardia, Christina Flox, et al. “Fe3O4@NiFexOy Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Properties for Oxygen Evolution in Carbonate Electrolyte.” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society, 2016. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888</a>.","ista":"Luo Z, Márti Sánchez S, Nafria R, Joshua G, De La Mata M, Guardia P, Flox C, Martínez Boubeta C, Simeonidis K, Llorca J, Morante J, Arbiol J, Ibáñez M, Cabot A. 2016. Fe3O4@NiFexOy nanoparticles with enhanced electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution in carbonate electrolyte. Applied Materials and Interfaces. 8(43), 29461–29469.","ama":"Luo Z, Márti Sánchez S, Nafria R, et al. Fe3O4@NiFexOy nanoparticles with enhanced electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution in carbonate electrolyte. <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. 2016;8(43):29461-29469. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b09888\">10.1021/acsami.6b09888</a>"},"publisher":"American Chemical Society","date_published":"2016-11-02T00:00:00Z","oa_version":"None","OA_type":"closed access","publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1944-8252"],"issn":["1944-8244"]}},{"oa_version":"Preprint","OA_type":"green","publication_identifier":{"issn":["1944-8244"],"eissn":["1944-8252"]},"oa":1,"citation":{"apa":"Luo, Z., Irtem, E., Ibanez, M., Nafria, R., Márti Sánchez, S., Genç, A., … Cabot, A. (2016). Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy nanoparticles: Partial cation exchange synthesis and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786</a>","mla":"Luo, Zhishan, et al. “Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy Nanoparticles: Partial Cation Exchange Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Properties toward the Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions.” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 8, no. 27, American Chemical Society, 2016, pp. 17435–44, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786\">10.1021/acsami.6b02786</a>.","ieee":"Z. Luo <i>et al.</i>, “Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy nanoparticles: Partial cation exchange synthesis and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions,” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>, vol. 8, no. 27. American Chemical Society, pp. 17435–17444, 2016.","short":"Z. Luo, E. Irtem, M. Ibanez, R. Nafria, S. Márti Sánchez, A. Genç, M. De La Mata, Y. Liu, D. Cadavid, J. Llorca, J. Arbiol, T. Andreu, J. Morante, A. Cabot, Applied Materials and Interfaces 8 (2016) 17435–17444.","ista":"Luo Z, Irtem E, Ibanez M, Nafria R, Márti Sánchez S, Genç A, De La Mata M, Liu Y, Cadavid D, Llorca J, Arbiol J, Andreu T, Morante J, Cabot A. 2016. Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy nanoparticles: Partial cation exchange synthesis and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. Applied Materials and Interfaces. 8(27), 17435–17444.","chicago":"Luo, Zhishan, Erdem Irtem, Maria Ibanez, Raquel Nafria, Sara Márti Sánchez, Aziz Genç, Maria De La Mata, et al. “Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy Nanoparticles: Partial Cation Exchange Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Properties toward the Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions.” <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. American Chemical Society, 2016. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786\">https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786</a>.","ama":"Luo Z, Irtem E, Ibanez M, et al. Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy nanoparticles: Partial cation exchange synthesis and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. <i>Applied Materials and Interfaces</i>. 2016;8(27):17435-17444. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b02786\">10.1021/acsami.6b02786</a>"},"publisher":"American Chemical Society","date_published":"2016-06-20T00:00:00Z","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1","url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2117/104566"}],"intvolume":"         8","publication_status":"published","article_type":"original","publication":"Applied Materials and Interfaces","doi":"10.1021/acsami.6b02786","article_processing_charge":"No","pmid":1,"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"author":[{"last_name":"Luo","full_name":"Luo, Zhishan","first_name":"Zhishan"},{"last_name":"Irtem","full_name":"Irtem, Erdem","first_name":"Erdem"},{"last_name":"Ibanez","full_name":"Ibanez, Maria","first_name":"Maria"},{"first_name":"Raquel","full_name":"Nafria, Raquel","last_name":"Nafria"},{"first_name":"Sara","last_name":"Márti Sánchez","full_name":"Márti Sánchez, Sara"},{"last_name":"Genç","full_name":"Genç, Aziz","first_name":"Aziz"},{"full_name":"De La Mata, Maria","last_name":"De La Mata","first_name":"Maria"},{"first_name":"Yu","full_name":"Liu, Yu","id":"2A70014E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","last_name":"Liu","orcid":"0000-0001-7313-6740"},{"full_name":"Cadavid, Doris","last_name":"Cadavid","first_name":"Doris"},{"last_name":"Llorca","full_name":"Llorca, Jordi","first_name":"Jordi"},{"first_name":"Jordi","last_name":"Arbiol","full_name":"Arbiol, Jordi"},{"full_name":"Andreu, Teresa","last_name":"Andreu","first_name":"Teresa"},{"first_name":"Joan","last_name":"Morante","full_name":"Morante, Joan"},{"first_name":"Andreu","last_name":"Cabot","full_name":"Cabot, Andreu"}],"publist_id":"7447","date_created":"2018-12-11T11:46:09Z","keyword":["nanoparticle","ORR","OER","manganese oxide","cobalt oxide","colloidal","electrocatalysis","cation exchange"],"quality_controlled":"1","date_updated":"2026-05-12T14:13:53Z","volume":8,"acknowledgement":"his work was supported by the European Regional Development Funds and the Spanish MINECO projects BOOSTER (ENE2013-46624-C4-3-R), TNT-FUELS (MAT2014-59961), e-TNT (MAT2014-59961-C2-2-R) and PEC-CO2 (ENE2012- 3651). Z.L. and Y.L. thank the China Scholarship Council for scholarship support. E.I. thanks AGAUR for his Ph.D. grant (FI-2013-B-00769). M.I. thanks AGAUR for the Beatriu de Pinos postdoctoral grant (2013 BP-A00344). S.M. acknowl- ́ edges funding from “Programa Internacional de Becas ‘la Caixa’-Severo Ochoa”. J.L. is a Serra Hunter Fellow and is ́ grateful to ICREA Academia program. We also acknowledge the funding from Generalitat de Catalunya 2014 SGR 1638.","OA_place":"repository","_id":"382","issue":"27","extern":"1","month":"06","type":"journal_article","page":"17435 - 17444","abstract":[{"text":"Mn3O4@CoMn2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) were produced at low temperature and ambient atmosphere using a one-pot two-step synthesis protocol involving the cation exchange of Mn by Co in preformed Mn3O4 NPs. Selecting the proper cobalt precursor, the nucleation of CoxOy crystallites at the Mn3O4@CoMn2O4 surface could be simultaneously promoted to form Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy NPs. Such heterostructured NPs were investigated for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR, OER) in alkaline solution. Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy NPs with [Co]/[Mn] = 1 showed low overpotentials of 0.31 V at −3 mA·cm–2 and a small Tafel slope of 52 mV·dec–1 for ORR, and overpotentials of 0.31 V at 10 mA·cm–2 and a Tafel slope of 81 mV·dec–1 for OER, thus outperforming commercial Pt-, IrO2-based and previously reported transition metal oxides. This cation-exchange-based synthesis protocol opens up a new approach to design novel heterostructured NPs as efficient nonprecious metal bifunctional oxygen catalysts.","lang":"eng"}],"day":"20","year":"2016","status":"public","external_id":{"pmid":["27323284"]},"title":"Mn3O4@CoMn2O4–CoxOy nanoparticles: Partial cation exchange synthesis and electrocatalytic properties toward the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions","user_id":"ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd","scopus_import":"1"}]