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Improving thermoelectric properties of ZrPtSn-based half-Heusler compound by Sb doping

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Abstract

Bipolar diffusion appeared at high temperature leads to the performance deterioration of thermoelectric (TE) materials, and TE materials with large band gaps have high intrinsic excitation temperature, which is important for high-temperature application. Previous calculation has revealed that ZrPtSn half-Heusler has a large band gap (~ 1.0 eV) among various half-Heusler compounds, which may be a good candidate for thermoelectric generators at high temperature. In this study, the structure and TE properties of ZrPtSn1-xSbx half-Heusler compounds were studied by optimization of carrier concentration through Sb doping. With 8% Sb substitution at Sn sites, the enhanced power factor of 23 μW·cm−1·K−2 at 850 K and figure of merit (zT) value of 0.5 at 1000 K were reported in n-type ZrPtSn compounds. Further, the effect of Ni alloying in ZrPt1-yNiySn0.92Sb0.08 compounds were also investigated. With the strong point defect scattering for phonons, the lattice thermal conductivity is decreased by ~ 40% at room temperature compared with that of unalloyed compounds. However, due to the depressed carrier mobility, the final zT does not show much superiority with ZrPtSn0.92Sb0.08 sample.

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摘要

高温下出现双极扩散会导致热电材料性能恶化, 而宽禁带的热电材料具有较高的本征激发温度, 这对其在高温下的应用具有重要意义。有文献报道ZrPtSn Half-Heusler化合物具有较大的计算带隙(约1.0 eV), 也许会成为一种性能优异的高温热电材料。在本文中, 通过Sb掺杂优化载流子浓度, 研究了ZrPtSn1-xSbx Half-Heusler化合物的结构和热电性能。发现当Sb掺杂量为8%时, n型ZrPtSn化合物在850 K的功率因子提升到23 μW·cm-1·K-2, 1000 K时zT值提升到了0.5。进一步研究了Ni固溶对ZrPtSn性能的影响。由于点缺陷对声子的强散射作用, 固溶样品室温下晶格热导率降低了约40%。然而, 由于载流子迁移率的降低, 最终的zT与ZrPtSn0.92Sb0.08样品相比并没有实现明显的提升作用。

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2019YFB1901103 and 2019YFE0103500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51632010) and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (No. 2019253).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, China

    Chu-Kun Dai, Qing-Feng Song, Li Xie, Sheng-Qiang Bai & Li-Dong Chen

  2. Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Chu-Kun Dai, Qing-Feng Song, Li Xie, Sheng-Qiang Bai & Li-Dong Chen

  3. Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Electronic Materials, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Rui-Heng Liu

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  1. Chu-Kun Dai
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Correspondence to Rui-Heng Liu or Sheng-Qiang Bai.

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Dai, CK., Song, QF., Xie, L. et al. Improving thermoelectric properties of ZrPtSn-based half-Heusler compound by Sb doping. Rare Met. 40, 2838–2846 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-021-01752-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-021-01752-x

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