---
_id: '9304'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: The high processing cost, poor mechanical properties and moderate performance
of Bi2Te3–based alloys used in thermoelectric devices limit the cost-effectiveness
of this energy conversion technology. Towards solving these current challenges,
in the present work, we detail a low temperature solution-based approach to produce
Bi2Te3-Cu2-xTe nanocomposites with improved thermoelectric performance. Our approach
consists in combining proper ratios of colloidal nanoparticles and to consolidate
the resulting mixture into nanocomposites using a hot press. The transport properties
of the nanocomposites are characterized and compared with those of pure Bi2Te3
nanomaterials obtained following the same procedure. In contrast with most previous
works, the presence of Cu2-xTe nanodomains does not result in a significant reduction
of the lattice thermal conductivity of the reference Bi2Te3 nanomaterial, which
is already very low. However, the introduction of Cu2-xTe yields a nearly threefold
increase of the power factor associated to a simultaneous increase of the Seebeck
coefficient and electrical conductivity at temperatures above 400 K. Taking into
account the band alignment of the two materials, we rationalize this increase
by considering that Cu2-xTe nanostructures, with a relatively low electron affinity,
are able to inject electrons into Bi2Te3, enhancing in this way its electrical
conductivity. The simultaneous increase of the Seebeck coefficient is related
to the energy filtering of charge carriers at energy barriers within Bi2Te3 domains
associated with the accumulation of electrons in regions nearby a Cu2-xTe/Bi2Te3
heterojunction. Overall, with the incorporation of a proper amount of Cu2-xTe
nanoparticles, we demonstrate a 250% improvement of the thermoelectric figure
of merit of Bi2Te3.
acknowledgement: "This work was supported by the European Regional Development Funds
and by the Generalitat de Catalunya through the project 2017SGR1246. Y.Z, C.X, M.L,
K.X and X.H thank the China Scholarship Council for the scholarship support. MI
acknowledges financial support from IST Austria. YL acknowledges funding from the
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie
grant agreement No. 754411. ICN2\r\nacknowledges funding from Generalitat de Catalunya
2017 SGR 327 and the Spanish MINECO project ENE2017-85087-C3. ICN2 is supported
by the Severo Ochoa program from the Spanish MINECO (grant no. SEV-2017-0706) and
is funded by the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya. Part of the present work
has been performed in the framework of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Materials
Science PhD program."
article_number: '129374'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Yu
full_name: Zhang, Yu
last_name: Zhang
- first_name: Congcong
full_name: Xing, Congcong
last_name: Xing
- first_name: Yu
full_name: Liu, Yu
id: 2A70014E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Liu
orcid: 0000-0001-7313-6740
- first_name: Mengyao
full_name: Li, Mengyao
last_name: Li
- first_name: Ke
full_name: Xiao, Ke
last_name: Xiao
- first_name: Pablo
full_name: Guardia, Pablo
last_name: Guardia
- first_name: Seungho
full_name: Lee, Seungho
id: BB243B88-D767-11E9-B658-BC13E6697425
last_name: Lee
orcid: 0000-0002-6962-8598
- first_name: Xu
full_name: Han, Xu
last_name: Han
- first_name: Ahmad
full_name: Moghaddam, Ahmad
last_name: Moghaddam
- first_name: Joan J
full_name: Roa, Joan J
last_name: Roa
- first_name: Jordi
full_name: Arbiol, Jordi
last_name: Arbiol
- first_name: Maria
full_name: Ibáñez, Maria
id: 43C61214-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Ibáñez
orcid: 0000-0001-5013-2843
- first_name: Kai
full_name: Pan, Kai
last_name: Pan
- first_name: Mirko
full_name: Prato, Mirko
last_name: Prato
- first_name: Ying
full_name: Xie, Ying
last_name: Xie
- first_name: Andreu
full_name: Cabot, Andreu
last_name: Cabot
citation:
ama: Zhang Y, Xing C, Liu Y, et al. Influence of copper telluride nanodomains on
the transport properties of n-type bismuth telluride. Chemical Engineering
Journal. 2021;418(8). doi:10.1016/j.cej.2021.129374
apa: Zhang, Y., Xing, C., Liu, Y., Li, M., Xiao, K., Guardia, P., … Cabot, A. (2021).
Influence of copper telluride nanodomains on the transport properties of n-type
bismuth telluride. Chemical Engineering Journal. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.129374
chicago: Zhang, Yu, Congcong Xing, Yu Liu, Mengyao Li, Ke Xiao, Pablo Guardia, Seungho
Lee, et al. “Influence of Copper Telluride Nanodomains on the Transport Properties
of N-Type Bismuth Telluride.” Chemical Engineering Journal. Elsevier, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2021.129374.
ieee: Y. Zhang et al., “Influence of copper telluride nanodomains on the
transport properties of n-type bismuth telluride,” Chemical Engineering Journal,
vol. 418, no. 8. Elsevier, 2021.
ista: Zhang Y, Xing C, Liu Y, Li M, Xiao K, Guardia P, Lee S, Han X, Moghaddam A,
Roa JJ, Arbiol J, Ibáñez M, Pan K, Prato M, Xie Y, Cabot A. 2021. Influence of
copper telluride nanodomains on the transport properties of n-type bismuth telluride.
Chemical Engineering Journal. 418(8), 129374.
mla: Zhang, Yu, et al. “Influence of Copper Telluride Nanodomains on the Transport
Properties of N-Type Bismuth Telluride.” Chemical Engineering Journal,
vol. 418, no. 8, 129374, Elsevier, 2021, doi:10.1016/j.cej.2021.129374.
short: Y. Zhang, C. Xing, Y. Liu, M. Li, K. Xiao, P. Guardia, S. Lee, X. Han, A.
Moghaddam, J.J. Roa, J. Arbiol, M. Ibáñez, K. Pan, M. Prato, Y. Xie, A. Cabot,
Chemical Engineering Journal 418 (2021).
date_created: 2021-04-04T22:01:20Z
date_published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-27T07:36:29Z
day: '15'
department:
- _id: MaIb
doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2021.129374
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
isi:
- '000655672000005'
intvolume: ' 418'
isi: 1
issue: '8'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/271949
month: '08'
oa: 1
oa_version: Submitted Version
project:
- _id: 260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '754411'
name: ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships
publication: Chemical Engineering Journal
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 1385-8947
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Influence of copper telluride nanodomains on the transport properties of n-type
bismuth telluride
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 418
year: '2021'
...