Abstract
Recently, it was found that element semiconductor tellurium (Te) behaved a high thermoelectric (TE) performance. Further enhancement of its TE performance was expected in decreasing phonon thermal conductivity. In this paper, element semiconductor Te doped with arsenic (As) and alloyed with selenium (Se) was prepared by one-step high-pressure method. Trace amounts of As doping could increase the carrier concentration of Te effectively and thereby optimize its power factor. The phonon thermal conductivity of Te was depressed sharply, due to the effect of high-pressure compression (introducing dislocations, lattice curvatures and nanograins) and Se alloying (introducing point defects and crystal dislocation). The beneficial effect of As doping on the power factor, high-pressure compression and Se alloying on thermal conductivity led to a peak ZT of 0.81 at 540 K for Te doped with 0.5 mol% As and alloyed with 10 mol% Se.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (182300410248), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Universities of Henan Province (NSFRF140202), the Outstanding Youth Funds of Henan Polytechnic University (J2016-5), the Innovation Scientists and Technicians Troop Construction Projects of Henan Province (CXTD2017089). Professional practice demonstration base for professional degree graduate in Material engineering of Henan Polytechnic University (2016YJD03). We also thank Yuewen Zhang (Zhengzhou University) and Haiqiang Liu (Jilin University) for measuring and analyzing the microstructure.
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Yang, M., Su, T., Zhu, H. et al. Thermoelectric performance of Te doped with As and alloyed with Se. J Mater Sci 53, 11524–11533 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2389-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2389-y