Abstract
Many elements have been used as dopants to enhance the thermoelectric performance of Bi2Te3-related materials. Among them, Ag’s effect on thermoelectric properties, where Ag acts as a donor or acceptor, remains unclear. To elucidate the role of Ag in n-type Bi2Te3 based compounds, Ag was added to n-type (Bi0.9Sb0.1)2(Te0.85Se0.15)3. As the amount of Ag was increased, the electron concentration decreased, which means Ag acted as an acceptor. The added Ag atoms were found to occupy interstitial sites in the hexagonal lattices, as confirmed by X-ray analysis and first principles calculations. The reduction in electron concentration was attributed to the interaction between the interstitial Ag and intrinsic defects.
Highlights
Thermoelectric materials have excellent potential to improve levels of global energy consumption by using recovered waste heat to generate power, and enabling all solid-state refrigeration technology [1,2]
We focused on new findings, that the dopant can control the concentration of native defects in Bi2 Te3, and that the dopant can donate carriers through ionization
Sb and Se were added to Bi2 Te3, because we wished to investigate the effect of Ag on the transport properties of compounds that were close to the conventionally used composition [22]
Summary
Thermoelectric materials have excellent potential to improve levels of global energy consumption by using recovered waste heat to generate power, and enabling all solid-state refrigeration technology [1,2]. To realize this potential, thermoelectric materials are needed which have a large value of the dimensionless figure of merit, ZT = (α2 /ρκ) T, where α, ρ, κ, and T are the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and absolute temperature, respectively [1]. Appropriate control of carrier concentration is one of the prerequisites for achieving enhanced ZT Before attempting to enhance PF with novel technologies such as nanostructures and band structure engineering, the carrier concentration should be optimized.
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