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Thermoelectric Properties of Cu2Se Compound Fabricated at Low-Temperature Combustion Synthesis as a New Approach with Alternative Techniques

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Abstract

This article report the combustion synthesis of a Cu2Se thermoelectric intermetallic compound via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The elemental copper and selenium powder mixture makes a combustion reaction at ~ 130°C during spark plasma-assisted heating. The applied load and combustion reaction together facilitate the densification of the reacted compound to a relative density of 88%. The x-ray diffractometer (XRD) data of the as-sintered bulk reacted compound confirms the formation of α-Cu2Se and β-Cu2Se compounds. On further short annealing at 350°C for 10 min, the β-Cu2Se transforms to α-Cu2Se and a complete monoclinic α-Cu2Se phase is obtained in the compound. The highest figure-of-merit (ZT) value of 0.61 at 650 K was achieved. This low-temperature sintering approach helps to overcome the issue of copper ion migration during SPS, and hence the chemical homogeneity is ascertained throughout the compound. The thermoelectric properties were compared with the Cu2Se material synthesized from other routes and found a superior ZT value than material prepared from solvothermal synthesis, mechanical alloying and hydrothermal-hot press techniques.

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  1. Green Energy Materials and Manufacturing Research Group, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, 620 015, India

    N. Thangavel & S. Kumaran

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  1. N. Thangavel
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Thangavel, N., Kumaran, S. Thermoelectric Properties of Cu2Se Compound Fabricated at Low-Temperature Combustion Synthesis as a New Approach with Alternative Techniques. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 2168–2176 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-10196-7

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