BARC/PUB/2022/0224

 
 

Synergistic effect of Zn doping on thermoelectric properties to realize a high figure-of-merit and conversion efficiency in Bi2-xZnxTe3 based thermoelectric generators

 
     
 
Author(s)

Rishikesh Kumar; Bhatt, R.; Tewary, A.; Debnath, A. K.; Bhatt, P.; Mani, N.; Jha, P.; Patro, P.; Bhattacharya, S.; Pathak, M.; Khan, M. K.; Singh, A.; Muthe, K. P.
(TPD;SSPD;PMD)

Source

Journal of Materials Chemistry-C, 2022. Vol. 10 (20): pp. 7970-7979

ABSTRACT

In state-of-the-art bismuth telluride based thermoelectric devices, the n-type composition shows a lower figure-of-merit (zT) than the p-type counterpart due to intrinsic electrical anisotropy and bipolar conduction at elevated temperatures. Herein, we demonstrate a significant improvement in the zT values of n-type Bi2–xZnxTe3 (x = 0–0.3) materials through aliovalent Zn doping at the Bi-site in the rhombohedral Bi2Te3 structure. A simultaneous enhancement in the electrical conductivity (σ) and Seebeck coefficient (α) with Zn doping is observed, which is attributed to the increased carrier concentration (n) and effective mass (m*), respectively. Concomitantly, a drastic enhancement in the power factor (α2σ) from 2.4 mW m–1 K–2 (x = 0) to 3.1 mW m–1 K–2 (x = 0.2) at 430 K is achieved. In addition, the incorporation of Zn shows a significant reduction in the lattice and bipolar contributions to the total thermal conductivity (k), which drastically enhances the zT value to ~1.2 (x = 0.2) at 450 K. The achieved zT value is ~70% higher than that of the undoped Bi2Te3 sample. A unicouple module fabricated using n-type Bi1.8Zn0.2Te3 in combination with the compatible high zT p-type Bi0.5Sb1.495Cu0.005Te3 material shows a record-high conversion efficiency (η) of ~8.1% at a temperature gradient (ΔT) of 224 K. The achieved η is amongst the best-reported values till date in Bi2Te3 lab-scale thermoelectric power generators.

 
 
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