Earth Abundant Element Type I Clathrate Phases

Susan M Kauzlarich; Fan Sui; Christopher J Perez

doi:10.3390/ma9090714

Earth Abundant Element Type I Clathrate Phases

Materials (Basel). 2016 Aug 23;9(9):714. doi: 10.3390/ma9090714.

Authors

Susan M Kauzlarich¹, Fan Sui², Christopher J Perez³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, One Shields Ave, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. smkauzlarich@ucdavis.edu.
² Department of Chemistry, One Shields Ave, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. fsui_ucd@hotmail.com.
³ Department of Chemistry, One Shields Ave, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. cpe@ucdavis.edu.

Abstract

Earth abundant element clathrate phases are of interest for a number of applications ranging from photovoltaics to thermoelectrics. Silicon-containing type I clathrate is a framework structure with the stoichiometry A_8-xSi₄₆ (A = guest atom such as alkali metal) that can be tuned by alloying and doping with other elements. The type I clathrate framework can be described as being composed of two types of polyhedral cages made up of tetrahedrally coordinated Si: pentagonal dodecahedra with 20 atoms and tetrakaidecahedra with 24 atoms in the ratio of 2:6. The cation sites, A, are found in the center of each polyhedral cage. This review focuses on the newest discoveries in the group 13-silicon type I clathrate family: A₈E₈Si₃₈ (A = alkali metal; E = Al, Ga) and their properties. Possible approaches to new phases based on earth abundant elements and their potential applications will be discussed.

Keywords: photovoltaics; silicon; thermoelectrics.

Publication types

Review