Thermoelectric materials by using two-dimensional materials with negative correlation between electrical and thermal conductivity.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27323662.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms12011 and PMC identifier 4919538.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
In general, in thermoelectric materials the electrical conductivity σ and thermal conductivity κ are related and thus cannot be controlled independently. Previously, to maximize the thermoelectric figure of merit in state-of-the-art materials, differences in relative scaling between σ and κ as dimensions are reduced to approach the nanoscale were utilized. Here we present an approach to thermoelectric materials using tin disulfide, SnS2, nanosheets that demonstrated a negative correlation between σ and κ. In other words, as the thickness of SnS2 decreased, σ increased whereas κ decreased. This approach leads to a thermoelectric figure of merit increase to 0.13 at 300 K, a factor ∼1,000 times greater than previously reported bulk single-crystal SnS2. The Seebeck coefficient obtained for our two-dimensional SnS2 nanosheets was 34.7 mV K(-1) for 16-nm-thick samples at 300 K.