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In situ synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Te/FeTe2 composites

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Abstract

Besides excellent thermoelectric performance in the medium temperature region, the elemental semiconductor Tellurium (Te) has the character of simple composition and not easy to segregate, which also makes it very advantageous in practical manufacturing and application, and has attracted extensive attention in recent years. However, the carrier concentration of intrinsic Te is too low to obtain high thermoelectric performance. Only high toxic As doing is effective to optimize the electrical transport properties. In this study, we used the in situ compositing method to overcome the disadvantage of poor electrical transport properties of Te. The results show that simple mixing followed by high-pressure sintering method can form dispersoid distribution of FeTe2 in the matrix of Te. High carrier concentration of 2.6 to 4.8 × 1019 cm−3 was obtained for the Te/FeTe2 composites, which results in an enhanced power factor. Simultaneously, the phonon scattering of the second phase of FeTe2 reduces the phonon thermal conductivity of Te. This study shows that FeTe2 composition helps to overcome the disadvantage of poor electrical transport properties of elemental semiconductor Te.

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The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the authors.

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Funding

This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (52062031).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454000, China

    Xubiao Zhou, Shangsheng Li, Meihua Hu & Qiang Hu

  2. Nanchang Institute of Technology, Nanchang, 330044, China

    Taichao Su

  3. College of Science, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    Taichao Su

  4. Liupanshui Normal University, Liupanshui, 553004, China

    Bingke Qin

Authors
  1. Xubiao Zhou
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  2. Shangsheng Li
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  3. Taichao Su
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  4. Meihua Hu
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  5. Qiang Hu
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  6. Bingke Qin
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Contributions

XZ: investigation, data curation, writing—original draft preparation. SL: supervision, resources, methodology. TS: data curation, writing—original draft preparation, writing—reviewing and editing, methodology. MH: data curation. QH: data curation. BQ: data curation, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Shangsheng Li.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Research Data are a valuable asset to The Henan Polytechnic University (the University). Definition, responsibility, control, and distribution of Research Data produced during activities supported by the University; supported by external sponsors; or produced with University facilities, resources, or other personnel. This study does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Zhou, X., Li, S., Su, T. et al. In situ synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Te/FeTe2 composites. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 23673–23681 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09126-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09126-4

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