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Screening metal diffusion barriers for thermoelectric Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3

热电Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3中扩散屏蔽层材料的筛选

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Abstract

As the only commercialized thermoelectric for low-grade waste heat recovery applications, Bi2Te3-based devices commonly use nickel as the electrode. The long-term chemical stability of the Bi2Te3/Ni junction, particularly for the hot side, is one of the major concerns for Bi2Te3-based and other thermoelectrics because of the formation of Ni-Te intermediate compounds. The utilization of diffusion barrier layers has been proven to be an effective solution and the barriers should have both a good chemical inertness and a slow diffusion. In this work, Ti was screened out from 13 metals in total as an effective barrier material between p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5-Te3 thermoelectric materials and Ni electrodes, because of its low diffusion coefficient and long-term interfacial stability. The fabricated p-type Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3/Ti/Ni single-leg devices show a conversion efficiency over 6%, at a temperature difference of 200 K, without observable degradation for 1860 cycles of measurements lasting for 10 days. This study offers a useful strategy for making efficient and durable thermoelectric devices.

摘要

Bi2Te3基热电发电器件作为低品位余热回收应用中唯一商业化 的热电器件, 通常使用镍作为电极. Bi2Te3/Ni的界面处常形成镍碲化合 物, Bi2Te3基热电器件以及其他热电器件长期服役的稳定性主要取决于 热电材料与电极界面处的长期稳定性(尤其是热端), 热电材料与电极之 间引入扩散屏蔽层在热电器件的转换效率和服役稳定性方面发挥着重 要作用. 本工作从13种金属中筛选出Ti作为p型Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3热电材料与 Ni电极之间的阻挡层材料. 由于Ti在Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3中具有低扩散系数和 长期界面稳定性, p型Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3/Ti/Ni单腿器件在200 K温差下转换效 率大于6%, 并且在持续10天的近1900次转换效率测试中未发生衰减. 这 为制备高效耐用的热电器件提供了一种实用的策略.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (T2125008 and 52022068), and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (2021-01-07-00-07-E00096).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Materials Research Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China

    Min Liu  (刘敏), Wen Li  (李文) & Yanzhong Pei  (裴艳中)

Authors
  1. Min Liu  (刘敏)
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  2. Wen Li  (李文)
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  3. Yanzhong Pei  (裴艳中)
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Contributions

Author contributions Liu M performed the synthesis and characterization, and wrote the draft. Li W performed data analysis. Pei Y supervised the design, data analysis and paper writing. All authors contributed to the general discussion.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanzhong Pei  (裴艳中).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary information Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Min Liu received her BE degree in materials science and engineering from Soochow University, and MS degree from Central South University, China. She is now a PhD candidate at Tongji University under the supervision of Prof. Yanzhong Pei. Her research focuses on electrode and diffusion barrier materials for thermoelectric devices.

Yanzhong Pei has been working on advanced thermoelectric semiconductors for longer than a decade, from synthesizing the materials to understanding the underlying physics and chemistry. He holds a BE degree from Central South University in China, a PhD degree from Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and postdoctoral research experience for about five years at Michigan State University and the California Institute of Technology. He became a professor in 2012 at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China. His interests are focused on materials physics and chemistry for energy applications.

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Liu, M., Li, W. & Pei, Y. Screening metal diffusion barriers for thermoelectric Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3. Sci. China Mater. 67, 289–294 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2696-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2696-1

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