Improvement of Thermoelectric Performance in BiCuSeO Oxide by Ho Doping and Band Modulation

We try to use Ho doping combined with band modulation to adjust the thermoelectric properties for BiCuSeO.The results show that Ho doping can increase the carrier concentration and increase the electrical conductivity in the whole temperature range.Although Seebeck coefficient decreases due to the increase of carrier concentration,it still keeps relatively high values,especially in the middle and high temperature range.On this basis,the band-modulation sample can maintain relatively higher carrier concentration while maintaining relatively higher mobility,and further improve the electrical transporting performance.In addition,due to the introduction of a large number of interfaces in the band-modulation samples,the phonon scattering is enhanced effectively and the lattice thermal conductivity is reduced.Finally,the maximal power factor(PF) of 5.18μW·cm~(-1)K~(-2) and the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merits(ZT) of 0.81 are obtained from the 10% Ho modulation doped sample at 873 K.     

Thermoelectric properties of Li-doped Sr_(0.7)Ba_(0.3)Nb_2O_(6-δ) ceramics

Thermoelectric properties of Li-dopedSr_(0.7)Ba_(0.3)Nb_2O_(6-δ)ceramics were investigated in the temperature range from 323 K to 1073 K. The electrical conductivity increases significantly after lithium interstitial doping. However, both of the magnitudes of Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity vary non-monotonically but synchronously with the doping contents, indicating that doped lithium ions may not be fully ionized and oxygen vacancy may also contribute to carriers. The lattice thermal conductivity increases firstly and then decreases as the doping content increases, which is affected by competing factors.Thermoelectric performance is enhanced by lithium interstitial doping due to the increase of the power factor and the thermoelectric figure of merit reaches maximum value(0.21 at 1073 K) in the sample Sr_(0.70)Ba_(0.30)Li_(0.10)Nb_2O_6.     

Effect of Nb doping on microstructures and thermoelectric properties of SrTiO_3 ceramics

Nb-doped SrTiO_3 thermoelectric ceramics with different niobium concentrations,sintering temperatures and Sr-site vacancies are successfully prepared by high energy ball milling combined with carbon burial sintering.For fully understanding the effect of niobium doping on SrTiO_3,thermoelectric transport properties are systematically investigated in a temperature range from 300 K to 1100 K.The carrier mobility can be significantly enhanced,and the electrical conductivity is quadrupled,when the sintering temperature rises from 1673 K to 1773 K(beyond the eutectic temperature(1713 K) of SrTiO_3–TiO_2).The lattice vibration can be suppressed by the lattice distortion introduced by the doped niobium atoms.However,Sr-site vacancies compensate for the lattice distortion and increase the lattice thermal conductivity more or less.Finally,we achieve a maximum value of figure-of-merit z T of 0.21 at 1100 K for Sr Ti_(0.9)Nb_(0.1)O_3 ceramic sintered at1773 K.     

Influences of spark plasma sintering temperature on the microstructures and thermoelectric properties of(Sr_(0.95)Gd_(0.05))TiO_3 ceramics

(Sr0.95Gd0.05)Ti O3(SGTO) ceramics are successfully prepared via spark plasma sintering(SPS) respectively at 1548,1648,and 1748 K by using submicron-sized SGTO powders synthesized from a sol–gel method.The densities,microstructures,and thermoelectric properties of the SGTO ceramics are studied.Though the Seebeck coefficient shows no obvious difference in the case that SPS temperatures range from 1548 K to 1648 K,the electrical conductivity and the thermal conductivity increase remarkably due to the increase in grain size and density.The sample has a density higher than 98%theoretical density as the sintering temperature increases up to 1648 K and shows average grain sizes increasing from～ 0.7 μm to 7 μm until 1748 K.As a result,the maximum of the dimensionless figure of merit of ～ 0.24 is achieved at～ 1000 K for the samples sintered at 1648 K and 1748 K,which was ～ 71% larger than that(0.14 at ～ 1000 K) for the sample sintered at 1548 K due to the enhancement of the power factor.     

First principle investigation of the electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg_2C

In this paper, electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg_2C are investigated by using first principle pseudo potential method based on density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equations. We calculate the lattice parameters,bulk modulus, band gap and thermoelectric properties(Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity) of this material at different temperatures and compare them with available experimental and other theoretical data. The calculations show that Mg_2C is indirect band semiconductor with a band gap of 0.75 eV. The negative value of Seebeck coefficient shows that the conduction is due to electrons. The electrical conductivity decreases with temperature and Power factor(PF) increases with temperature. The thermoelectric properties of Mg_2C have been calculated in a temperature range of 100 K–1200 K.     

Effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of magnesium silicide: A density functional theory study

We study the effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg_2Si using the density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equations. The variation of lattice constant, band gap, bulk modulus with pressure is also analyzed. Further, the thermoelectric properties(Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity) have been studied as a function of temperature and pressure up to 1200 K. The results show that Mg_2Si is an n-type semiconductor with a band gap of 0.21 eV. The negative value of the Seebeck coefficient at all pressures indicates that the conduction is due to electrons. With the increase in pressure, the Seebeck coefficient decreases and electrical conductivity increases. It is also seen that, there is practically no effect of pressure on the electronic contribution of thermal conductivity.The paper describes the calculation of the lattice thermal conductivity and figure of merit of Mg_2Si at zero pressure. The maximum value of figure of merit is attained 1.83 × 10~(-3) at 1000 K. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical results.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Strontium Titanate

The molecular dynamics method is used to simulate the thermophysical properties of SrTiO3 thermoelectric material in the temperature range 300-2200 K. The Morse-type potential functions added to the Busing-Ida type potential for interatomic interaction are used in the simulation. The interatomic potential parameters are determined by fitting to the experimental data of lattice parameters with temperature and the data reported in literature. The linear thermal expansion coefficient, heat capacity and lattice contributions to the thermal conductivity are analyzed. The results agree with the data reported in the literature.     

Study of lattice thermal conductivity of alpha-zirconium by molecular dynamics simulation

The non-equilibrium molecular dynamics method is adapted to calculate the phonon thermal conductivity of alphazirconium. By exchanging velocities of atoms in different regions, the stable heat flux and the temperature gradient are established to calculate the thermal conductivity. The phonon thermal conductivities under different conditions, such as different heat exchange frequencies, different temperatures, different crystallographic orientations, and crossing grain boundary (GB), are studied in detail with considering the finite size effect. It turns out that the phonon thermal conductivity decreases with the increase of temperature, and displays anisotropies along different crystallographic orientations. The phonon thermal conductivity in [0001] direction (close-packed plane) is largest, while the values in other two directions of [2īī0] and [01ī0] are relatively close. In the region near GB, there is a sharp temperature drop, and the phonon thermal conductivity is about one-tenth of that of the single crystal at 550 K, suggesting that the GB may act as a thermal barrier in the crystal.     

Electrical transport and thermoelectric properties of Ni-doped perovskite-type YCo_(1-x)Ni_xO_3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.07) prepared by sol-gel process

Electrical transport and thermoelectric properties of Ni-doped YCo1-xNixO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.07), prepared by using the sol-gel process, are investigated in a temperature range from 100 to 780 K. The results show that with the increase of Ni doping content, the values of DC resistivity of YCo1-xNixO3 decrease, but carrier concentration increases. The temperature dependences of the resistivity for YCo1-xNixO3 are found to follow a relation of ln ρ∝ 1/T in a low-temperature range (LTR) (T ～ 304 K for x = 0; ～ 230 K T ～ 500 K for x = 0.02, 0.05, and 0.07) and high-temperature range (HTR) (T ～ 655 K for all compounds), respectively. The estimated apparent activation energies for conduction E a1 in LRT and Ea2 in HTR are both found to decrease monotonically with doping content increasing. At very low temperatures (T ～230 K), Mott's law is observed for YCo1-xNixO3 (x ≥ 0.02), indicating that considerable localized states form in the heavy doping compounds. Although the Seebeck coefficient of the compound decreases after Ni doping, the power factor of YCo1-xNixO3 is enhanced remarkably in a temperature range from 300 to 740 K, i.e., a 6-fold increase is achieved at 500 K for YCo0.98Ni0.02O3 , indicating that the high-temperature thermoelectric property of YCoO3 can be improved by partial substitution of Ni for Co.     

Zintl Phase BaAgSb: Low Thermal Conductivity and High Performance Thermoelectric Material in Ab Initio Calculation

Thermoelectric materials are critical parts in thermal electric devices.Here,Zintl phase BaAgSb in space group of P63/mmc is reported as a promising thermoelectric material in density function theory.The anisotropic lattice thermal conductivity and phonon transport properties are investigated in theory.The strong phonon-phonon scattering in BaAgSb exhibits ultra-low lattice thermal conductivity of 0.59 W·m~(-1)·K~(-1) along c-axis at 800 K,and high thermoelectric performance ZT=0.94 at 400 K.The mix of covalent and ionic bond supports high carrier mobility and low thermal conductivity.The unusual features make BaAgSb a potential thermoelectric material.     

Reconstruction of Intrinsic Thermal Parameters of Methane Hydrate and Thermal Contact Resistance by Freestanding 3ω Method

It is essential to obtain thermophysical properties of methane hydrate precisely with a freestanding probe for modeling and predicting thermal transport in gas hydrates. A method with a freestanding 3ω probe is presented to reconstruct the intrinsic thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal contact resistance of methane hydrate. Isolated from the thermal contact resistance, the intrinsic thermal conductivity of methane hydrate decreases between 250 K and 280 K and is 41% larger than the effective value at 253 K. More importantly, when the thermal contact resistance is isolated, the temperature dependence of intrinsic thermal conductivity shows a converse trend with the generally accepted glass-like feature at high temperature. Otherwise, thermal contact resistances measured in the experiment between the freestanding 3ω probe and the methane hydrate sample are extraordinary large. The freestanding 3ω method in this work is expected to measure the thermal property of methane hydrate more accurately.     

Unexpected low thermal conductivity and large power factor in Dirac semimetal Cd_3As_2

Thermoelectrics has long been considered as a promising way of power generation for the next decades. So far,extensive efforts have been devoted to the search of ideal thermoelectric materials, which require both high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity. Recently, the emerging Dirac semimetal Cd3As2, a three-dimensional analogue of graphene, has been reported to host ultra-high mobility and good electrical conductivity as metals. Here, we report the observation of unexpected low thermal conductivity in Cd3As2, one order of magnitude lower than the conventional metals or semimetals with a similar electrical conductivity, despite the semimetal band structure and high electron mobility. The power factor also reaches a large value of 1.58 m W·m-1·K-2at room temperature and remains non-saturated up to 400 K.Corroborating with the first-principles calculations, we find that the thermoelectric performance can be well-modulated by the carrier concentration in a wide range. This work demonstrates the Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 as a potential candidate of thermoelectric materials.     

High-Temperature Annealing Induced He Bubble Evolution in Low Energy He Ion Implanted 6H-SiC

Bubble evolution in low energy and high dose He-implanted 6 H-SiC upon thermal annealing is studied. The(0001)-oriented 6 H-SiC wafers are implanted with 15 keV helium ions at a dose of 1×10~(17) cm~(-2) at room temperature. The samples with post-implantation are annealed at temperatures of 1073, 1173, 1273, and 1473 K for30 min. He bubbles in the wafers are examined via cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy(XTEM)analysis. The results present that nanoscale bubbles are almost homogeneously distributed in the damaged layer of the as-implanted sample, and no significant change is observed in the He-implanted sample after 1073 K annealing. Upon 1193 K annealing, almost full recrystallization of He-implantation-induced amorphization in 6 H-SiC is observed. In addition, the diameters of He bubbles increase obviously. With continually increasing temperatures to 1273 K and 1473 K, the diameters of He bubbles increase and the number density of lattice defects decreases.The growth of He bubbles after high temperature annealing abides by the Ostwald ripening mechanism. The mean diameter of He bubbles located at depths of 120-135 nm as a function of annealing temperature is fitted in terms of a thermal activated process which yields an activation energy of 1.914+0.236 eV.     

Tuning Thermal Conductivity in Si Nanowires with Patterned Structures

Tuning the thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires(Si-NWs)is essential for realization of future thermoelectric devices.The corresponding management of thermal transport is strongly related to the scattering of phonons,which are the primary heat carriers in Si-NWs.Using the molecular dynamics method,we find that the scattering of phonons from internal body defects is stronger than that from surface structures in the low-porosity range.Based on our simulations,we propose the concept of an exponential decay in thermal conductivity with porosity,specifically in the low-porosity range.In contrast,the thermal conductivity of Si-NWs with a higher porosity approaches the amorphous limit,and is insensitive to specific phonon scattering processes.Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the tuning of thermal conductivity in Si-NWs by means of patterned nanostructures,and may provide valuable insights into the optimal design of one-dimensional thermoelectric materials.     

Spin Glass Behaviour and Spin-Dependent Scattering in La0.7Ca0.3Mn0.9Cr0.1O3 Perovskites

The magnetic, electrical and thermal transport properties of the perovskite La0.7Ca0.3Mn0.9 Cr0.1O3 have been investigated by measuring dc magnetization, ac susceptibility, the magnetoresistance and thermal conductivity in the temperature range of 5-300 K. The spin glass behaviour with a spin freezing temperature of 70 K has been well confirmed for this compound, which demonstrates the coexistence and competition between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic clusters by the introduction of Cr. Colossal magnetoresistance has been observed over the temperature range investigated. The introduction of Cr causes the ““double-bump““ feature in electrical resistivity ρ(T). Anomalies on the susceptibility and the thermal conductivity associated with the double-bumps in ρ(T)are observed simultaneously. The imaginary part of ac susceptibility shows a sharp peak at the temperature of insulating-metallic transition where the first resistivity bump was observed, but it is a deep-set valley near the temperature where the second bump in ρ(T) emerges. The thermal conductivity shows an increase below the temperature of the insulating-metallic transition, but the phonon scattering is enhanced accompanying the appearance of the second peak of double-bumps in ρ(T). We relate those observed in magnetic and transport properties of La0.7Ca0.3Mn0.9Cr0.1O3 to the spin-dependent scattering. The results reveal that the spin-phonon interaction may be of more significance than the electron (charge)-phonon interaction in the mixed perovskite system.     

Influences of Temperature on Proton Conductivity in the Hydrogen-Bond Molecular Systems with Damping

Influences of temperature of medium on proton conductivity in hydrogen-bonded systems exposed in an electricfield are numerically studied by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with our model. The results obtained show that the proton soliton is very robust against thermal perturbation and damping of medium, and is thermally stable in the temperature range T ≤ 273 K. From the simulation we find out that the mobility （or velocity） of proton conduction in ice crystal is a nonmonotonic function of temperature in the temperature range 170-273 K： i.e., it increases initially, reaches a maximum at about 191 K, subsequently decreases to a minimum at about 211 K, and then increases again. This changed rule of mobility is qualitatively consistent with its experimental data in ice in the same temperature range. This result provides an evidence for existence of solitons in the hydrogen-bonded systems.     

Different effects of grain boundary scattering on chargeand heat transport in polycrystalline platinum and goldnanofilms

The in-plane electrical and thermal conductivities of several polycrystalline platinum and gold nanofilms with different thicknesses are measured in a temperature range between the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77K) and room temperature by using the direct current heating method. The result shows that both the electrical and thermal conductivities of the nanofilms reduce greatly compared with their corresponding bulk values. However, the electrical conductivity drop is considerably greater than the thermal conductivity drop, which indicates that the influence of the internal grain boundary on heat transport is different from that of charge transport, hence leading to the violation of the Wiedemann--Franz law. We build an electron relaxation model based on Matthiessen's rule to analyse the thermal conductivity and employ the Mayadas & Shatzkes theory to analyse the electrical conductivity. Moreover, a modified Wiedemann--Franz law is provided in this paper, the obtained results from which are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Phase transition and high temperature thermoelectric properties of copper selenide Cu2-x Se （0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25）

With good electrical properties and an inherently complex crystal structure, Cu_2-xSe is a potential “phonon glass electron crystal” thermoelectric material that has previously not attracted much interest. In this study, Cu_2-xSe (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) compounds were synthesized by a melting-quenching method, and then sintered by spark plasma sintering to obtain bulk material. The effect of Cu content on the phase transition and thermoelectric properties of Cu_2-xSe were investigated in the temperature range of 300 K—750 K. The results of X-ray diffraction at room temperature show that Cu_2-xSe compounds possess a cubic structure with a space group of Fm3m (#225) when 0.15 < x le 0.25, whereas they adopt a composite of monoclinic and cubic phases when 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15. The thermoelectric property measurements show that with increasing Cu content, the electrical conductivity decreases, the Seebeck coefficient increases and the thermal conductivity decreases. Due to the relatively good power factor and low thermal conductivity, the nearly stoichiometric Cu₂Se compound achieves the highest ZT of 0.38 at 750 K. It is expected that the thermoelectric performance can be further optimized by doping appropriate elements and/or via a nanostructuring approach.     

Charge-sensitive deep level transient spectroscopy of helium-ion-irradiated silicon, as-irradiated and after thermal annealing

Electrically active defects in the phosphor-doped single-crystal silicon, induced by helium-ion irradiation under thermal annealing, have been investigated. Isothermal charge-sensitive deep-level transient spectroscopy was employed to study the activation energy and capture cross-section of helium-induced defects in silicon samples. It was shown that the activation energy levels produced by helium-ion irradiation first increased with increasing annealing temperature, with the maximum value of the activation energy occurring at 873K, and reduced with further increase of the annealing temperature. The energy levels of defects in the samples annealed at 873 and 1073K are found to be located near the mid-forbidden energy gap level so that they can act as thermally stable carrier recombination centres.     

Phase Transition Behavior of LiCr 0.35 Mn0.65O2 under High Pressure by Electrical Conductivity Measurement

The electrical conductivity of powdered LiCr 0.35 Mn0.65O2 is measured under high pressure up to 26.22 GPa in the temperature range 300-413 K by using a diamond anvil cell. It is found that both conductivity and activation enthalpy change discontinuously at 5.36 GPa and 21.66 GPa. In the pressure range 1.10-5.36 GPa, pressure increases the activation enthalpy and reduces the carrier scattering, which finally leads to the conductivity increase. In the pressure ranges 6.32-21.66 GPa and 22.60-26.22 GPa, the activation enthalpy decreases with pressure increasing, which has a positive contribution to electrical conductivity increase. Two pressure-induced structural phase transitions are found by in-situ x-ray diffraction under high pressure, which results in the discontinuous changes of conductivity and activation enthalpy.