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Recent progress in thermoelectric nanocomposites based on solution-synthesized nanoheterostructures

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Abstract

Thermoelectric materials, which can convert waste heat into electricity, have received increasing research interest in recent years. This paper describes the recent progress in thermoelectric nanocomposites based on solution-synthesized nanoheterostructures. We start our discussion with the strategies of improving the power factor of a given material by using nanoheterostructures. Then we discuss the methods of decreasing thermal conductivity. Finally, we highlight a way of decoupling power factor and thermal conductivity, namely, incorporating phase-transition materials into a nanowire heterostructure. We have explored the lead telluride–copper telluride thermoelectric nanowire heterostructure in this work. Future possible ways to improve the figure of merit are discussed at the end of this paper.

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Acknowledgements

Y. W. gratefully thank the support from Office of Naval Research, Award Number N00014-16-1-2066.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Wei Zheng, Biao Xu, Chenghan Sun, Enzheng Shi, Tanner Dale Fink & Yue Wu

  2. Ames Laboratory, Department of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Lin Zhou

  3. Material Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Yilong Zhou & Haimei Zheng

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  1. Wei Zheng
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  2. Biao Xu
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  3. Lin Zhou
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  4. Yilong Zhou
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Correspondence to Yue Wu.

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These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Zheng, W., Xu, B., Zhou, L. et al. Recent progress in thermoelectric nanocomposites based on solution-synthesized nanoheterostructures. Nano Res. 10, 1498–1509 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1422-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1422-9

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