Thermoelectric properties of antimony selenide hexagonal nanotubes

Jose A Hernandez; Luis F Fonseca; Michael T Pettes; Miguel Jose-Yacaman

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/abcb31

Thermoelectric properties of antimony selenide hexagonal nanotubes

Nanotechnology. 2021 Feb 26;32(9):095705. doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/abcb31.

Authors

Jose A Hernandez^{1

2}, Luis F Fonseca¹, Michael T Pettes³, Miguel Jose-Yacaman⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics-University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan PR 00931, United States of America.
² Molecular Science Research Center-University of Puerto Rico, San Juan PR 00926, United States of America.
³ Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Materials Physics and Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, United States of America.
⁴ Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States of America.

PMID: 33202386
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/abcb31

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) is a material widely used in photodetectors and relatively new as a possible material for thermoelectric applications. Taking advantage of the new properties after nanoscale fabrication, this material shows great potential for the development of efficient low temperature thermoelectric devices. Here we study the synthesis, the crystal properties and the thermal and thermoelectric transport response of Sb₂Se₃ hexagonal nanotubes (HNT) in the temperature range between 120 and 370 K. HNT have a moderate electrical conductivity ∼10² S m^-1 while maintaining a reasonable Seebeck coefficient ∼430 μV K^-1 at 370 K. The electrical conductivity in Sb₂Se₃ HNT is about 5 orders of magnitude larger and its thermal conductivity one half of what is found in bulk. Moreover, the calculated figure of merit (ZT) at room temperature is the largest value reported in antimony selenide 1D structures.