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Wang H, Zheng S, Wu H, Xiong X, Xiong Q, Wang H, Wang Y, Zhang B, Lu X, Han G, Wang G, Zhou X. Realizing Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance and Hardness in Icosahedral Cu 5 FeS 4-x Se x with High-Density Twin Boundaries. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2104592. [PMID: 34741422 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202104592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Revised: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Bornite (Cu5 FeS4 ) is an Earth-abundant, nontoxic thermoelectric material. Herein, twin engineering and Se alloying are combined in order to further improve its thermoelectric performance. Cu5 FeS4-x Sex (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) icosahedral nanoparticles, containing high-density twin boundaries, have been synthesized by a colloidal method. Spark plasma sintering retains twin boundaries in the pellets sintered from Cu5 FeS4-x Sex colloidal powders. Thermoelectric property measurement demonstrates that alloying Se increases the carrier concentration, leading to much-improved power factor in Se-substituted Cu5 FeS4 , for example, 0.84 mW m-1 K-2 at 726 K for Cu5 FeS3.6 Se0.4 ; low lattice thermal conductivity is also achieved, due to intrinsic structural complexity, distorted crystal structure, and existing twin boundaries and point defects. As a result, a maximum zT of 0.75 is attained for Cu5 FeS3.6 Se0.4 at 726 K, which is about 23% higher than that of Cu5 FeS4 and compares favorably to that of reported Cu5 FeS4 -based materials. In addition, the Cu5 FeS4-x Sex samples containing twin boundaries also obtain improved hardness compared to the ones fabricated by melting-annealing or ball milling. This work demonstrates an effective twin engineering-composition tuning strategy toward enhanced thermoelectric and mechanical properties of Cu5 FeS4 -based materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Wang
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Sikang Zheng
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Hong Wu
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Xin Xiong
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Qihong Xiong
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Hengyang Wang
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, P. R. China
| | - Yang Wang
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Bin Zhang
- Analytical and Testing Center, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Xu Lu
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
| | - Guang Han
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, P. R. China
| | - Guoyu Wang
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, P. R. China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, P. R. China
| | - Xiaoyuan Zhou
- College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
- Analytical and Testing Center, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, P. R. China
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Li M, Liu Y, Zhang Y, Han X, Zhang T, Zuo Y, Xie C, Xiao K, Arbiol J, Llorca J, Ibáñez M, Liu J, Cabot A. Effect of the Annealing Atmosphere on Crystal Phase and Thermoelectric Properties of Copper Sulfide. ACS NANO 2021; 15:4967-4978. [PMID: 33645986 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c09866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Cu2-xS has become one of the most promising thermoelectric materials for application in the middle-high temperature range. Its advantages include the abundance, low cost, and safety of its elements and a high performance at relatively elevated temperatures. However, stability issues limit its operation current and temperature, thus calling for the optimization of the material performance in the middle temperature range. Here, we present a synthetic protocol for large scale production of covellite CuS nanoparticles at ambient temperature and atmosphere, and using water as a solvent. The crystal phase and stoichiometry of the particles are afterward tuned through an annealing process at a moderate temperature under inert or reducing atmosphere. While annealing under argon results in Cu1.8S nanopowder with a rhombohedral crystal phase, annealing in an atmosphere containing hydrogen leads to tetragonal Cu1.96S. High temperature X-ray diffraction analysis shows the material annealed in argon to transform to the cubic phase at ca. 400 K, while the material annealed in the presence of hydrogen undergoes two phase transitions, first to hexagonal and then to the cubic structure. The annealing atmosphere, temperature, and time allow adjustment of the density of copper vacancies and thus tuning of the charge carrier concentration and material transport properties. In this direction, the material annealed under Ar is characterized by higher electrical conductivities but lower Seebeck coefficients than the material annealed in the presence of hydrogen. By optimizing the charge carrier concentration through the annealing time, Cu2-xS with record figures of merit in the middle temperature range, up to 1.41 at 710 K, is obtained. We finally demonstrate that this strategy, based on a low-cost and scalable solution synthesis process, is also suitable for the production of high performance Cu2-xS layers using high throughput and cost-effective printing technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyao Li
- Catalonia Energy Research Institute - IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Yu Liu
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Yu Zhang
- Catalonia Energy Research Institute - IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xu Han
- Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ting Zhang
- Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Yong Zuo
- Catalonia Energy Research Institute - IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Chenyang Xie
- Department of Physics, INTE & Barcelona Multiscale Res. Center, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avda. Eduard Maristany 16, 08930 Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Ke Xiao
- Catalonia Energy Research Institute - IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Arbiol
- Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Jordi Llorca
- Institute of Energy Technologies, Department of Chemical Engineering and Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, EEBE, 08019 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Ibáñez
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Junfeng Liu
- Institute for Energy Research, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, 212013 Zhenjiang, P. R. China
| | - Andreu Cabot
- Catalonia Energy Research Institute - IREC, Sant Adrià de Besòs, 08930 Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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