TY - JOUR
T1 - Crystal structure, microstructure, and electronic transport properties of β-Zn4Sb3 thermoelectrics
T2 - effects of Zn intercalation and deintercalation
AU - Yoshioka, S.
AU - Hayashi, K.
AU - Yokoyama, A.
AU - Saito, W.
AU - Miyazaki, Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partly based on collaborative research between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Tohoku University, which is part of the Vision Co-creation Partnership.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/9
Y1 - 2021/9
N2 - The development of thermoelectric (TE) materials is the key to reduce the use of fossil fuels because they can reuse waste heat to generate electricity via the Seebeck effect. One of the promising p-type TE materials is β-Zn4Sb3 which exhibits high TE efficiency. To further improve its TE efficiency, β-Zn4Sb3 samples have been prepared by melting and subsequently heating them for different heating time. For the heating time below 150 h, intercalation of Zn atoms into the Zn interstitial (Zni) site of β-Zn4Sb3 occurs. In addition, the amount of Zn and Zn3Sb2 secondary phases decreases, yielding crack-free β-Zn4Sb3 samples. For the heating time above 150 h, deintercalation of Zn atoms from the Zni site of β-Zn4Sb3 occurs. Here, we discuss the evolution of the microstructure and the electronic transport properties, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient (thermopower), during heating from the viewpoint of the Zn intercalation and deintercalation, and this enables us to propose an optimal condition for preparing β-Zn4Sb3 with high TE efficiency.
AB - The development of thermoelectric (TE) materials is the key to reduce the use of fossil fuels because they can reuse waste heat to generate electricity via the Seebeck effect. One of the promising p-type TE materials is β-Zn4Sb3 which exhibits high TE efficiency. To further improve its TE efficiency, β-Zn4Sb3 samples have been prepared by melting and subsequently heating them for different heating time. For the heating time below 150 h, intercalation of Zn atoms into the Zn interstitial (Zni) site of β-Zn4Sb3 occurs. In addition, the amount of Zn and Zn3Sb2 secondary phases decreases, yielding crack-free β-Zn4Sb3 samples. For the heating time above 150 h, deintercalation of Zn atoms from the Zni site of β-Zn4Sb3 occurs. Here, we discuss the evolution of the microstructure and the electronic transport properties, electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient (thermopower), during heating from the viewpoint of the Zn intercalation and deintercalation, and this enables us to propose an optimal condition for preparing β-Zn4Sb3 with high TE efficiency.
KW - (3+1)-dimensional crystal structure
KW - Crack-free
KW - Interstitial Zn
KW - Thermoelectric properties
KW - Zinc antimonide
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U2 - 10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100723
DO - 10.1016/j.mtener.2021.100723
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85104399231
SN - 2468-6069
VL - 21
JO - Materials Today Energy
JF - Materials Today Energy
M1 - 100723
ER -
