Enhanced thermoelectric performance of Cu2CdSnSe4 by Mn doping: experimental and first principles studies.

ABSTRACT: Serials of Mn doping by substituting Cd sites on Cu2CdSnSe4 are prepared by the melting method and the spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique to form Cu2Cd1-xMnxSnSe4. Our experimental and theoretical studies show that the moderate Mn doping by substituting Cd sites is an effective method to improve the thermoelectric performance of Cu2CdSnSe4. The electrical resistivity is decreased by about a factor of 4 at 723 K after replacing Cd with Mn, but the seebeck coefficient decreases only slightly from 356 to 289 μV/K, resulting in the significant increase of the power factor. Although the thermal conductivity increases with the doping content of Mn, the figure of merit (ZT) is still increased from 0.06 (x = 0) to 0.16 (x = 0.10) at 723 K, by a factor of 2.6. To explore the mechanisms behind t

SUBMITTER: Liu FS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4105705 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature