High thermoelectric efficiency realized in SnSe crystals via structural modulation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36914654.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-37114-7 and PMC identifier 10011372.
- 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
Crystalline thermoelectrics have been developed to be potential candidates for power generation and electronic cooling, among which SnSe crystals are becoming the most representative. Herein, we realize high-performance SnSe crystals with promising efficiency through a structural modulation strategy. By alloying strontium at Sn sites, we modify the crystal structure and facilitate the multiband synglisis in p-type SnSe, favoring the optimization of interactive parameters μ and m<sup>*</sup>. Resultantly, we obtain a significantly enhanced PF ~85 μW cm<sup>-1</sup> K<sup>-2</sup>, with an ultrahigh ZT ~1.4 at 300 K and ZT<sub>ave</sub> ~2.0 among 300-673 K. Moreover, the excellent properties lead to single-leg device efficiency of ~8.9% under a temperature difference ΔT ~300 K, showing superiority among the current low- to mid-temperature thermoelectrics, with an enhanced cooling ΔT<sub>max</sub> of ~50.4 K in the 7-pair thermoelectric device. Our study further advances p-type SnSe crystals for practical waste heat recovery and electronic cooling.