Retarding Ostwald ripening through Gibbs adsorption and interfacial complexions leads to high-performance SnTe thermoelectrics
Decheng An, Jiangjing Wang, Jie Zhang, Xin Zhai, Zepeng Kang, Wenhao Fan, Jian Yan, Yequn Liu, Lu Lu, Chun‐Lin Jia, Matthias Wuttig, Oana Cojocaru‐Mirédin, Shaoping Chen, Wenxian Wang, G. Jeffrey Snyder, Yuan Yu
Abstract
Interfacial complexions formed by Gibbs adsorption of Ag retard the Ostwald ripening of CdTe precipitates in SnTe, minimizing the thermal conductivity. Combined with the band convergence, a high and stable zT of 1.5 is obtained in SnAg 0.05 Te-6%CdSe.
Topics & Concepts
Ostwald ripeningMaterials scienceAdsorptionCadmium telluride photovoltaicsThermodynamicsChemical engineeringCondensed matter physicsChemistryPhysical chemistryNanotechnologyPhysicsEngineeringAdvanced Thermoelectric Materials and DevicesChalcogenide Semiconductor Thin FilmsQuantum Dots Synthesis And Properties