Superior intrinsic thermoelectric performance with zT of 1.8 in single-crystal and melt-quenched highly dense Cu(2-x)Se bulks.

ABSTRACT: Practical applications of the high temperature thermoelectric materials developed so far are partially obstructed by the costly and complicated fabrication process. In this work, we put forward two additional important properties for thermoelectric materials, high crystal symmetry and congruent melting. We propose that the recently discovered thermoelectric material Cu2-xSe, with figure of merit, zT, over 1.5 at T of ~ 1000 K, should meet these requirements, based on our analysis of its crystal structure and the Cu-Se binary phase diagram. We found that its excellent thermoelectric performance is intrinsic, and less dependent on grain size, while highly dense samples can be easily fabricated by a melt-quenching approach. Our results reveal that the melt-quenched samples and single crystals

SUBMITTER: Zhao LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5378988 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature