Optimizing the thermoelectric performance of graphene nano-ribbons without degrading the electronic properties.

ABSTRACT: The enhancement of thermoelectric figure of merit ZT requires to either increase the power factor or reduce the phonon conductance, or even both. In graphene, the high phonon thermal conductivity is the main factor limiting the thermoelectric conversion. The common strategy to enhance ZT is therefore to introduce phonon scatterers to suppress the phonon conductance while retaining high electrical conductance and Seebeck coefficient. Although thermoelectric performance is eventually enhanced, all studies based on this strategy show a significant reduction of the electrical conductance. In this study we demonstrate that appropriate sources of disorder, including isotopes and vacancies at lowest electron density positions, can be used as phonon scatterers to reduce the phonon conductance in g

SUBMITTER: Tran VT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5443772 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature