Preparation of Heavily Doped P-Type PbSe with High Thermoelectric Performance by the NaCl Salt-Assisted Approach

Xinru Ma; Xuxia Shai; Yu Ding; Jie Zheng; Jinsong Wang; Jiale Sun; Xiaorui Li; Weitao Chen; Tingting Wei; Weina Ren; Lei Gao; Shukang Deng; Chunhua Zeng

doi:10.3390/molecules28062629

Preparation of Heavily Doped P-Type PbSe with High Thermoelectric Performance by the NaCl Salt-Assisted Approach

Molecules. 2023 Mar 14;28(6):2629. doi: 10.3390/molecules28062629.

Authors

Xinru Ma¹, Xuxia Shai¹, Yu Ding^{2

3}, Jie Zheng⁴, Jinsong Wang⁵, Jiale Sun¹, Xiaorui Li¹, Weitao Chen¹, Tingting Wei¹, Weina Ren¹, Lei Gao¹, Shukang Deng⁴, Chunhua Zeng¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Science, Institute of Physical and Engineering Science, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China.
² College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, China.
³ Nuode New Materials Co., Ltd., Shenzhen 518048, China.
⁴ Education Ministry Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China.
⁵ Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China.

Abstract

Thermoelectric (TE) technology, which can convert scrap heat into electricity, has attracted considerable attention. However, broader applications of TE are hindered by lacking high-performance thermoelectric materials, which can be effectively progressed by regulating the carrier concentration. In this work, a series of PbSe(NaCl)_x (x = 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5) samples were synthesized through the NaCl salt-assisted approach with Na⁺ and Cl^- doped into their lattice. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that manipulating the carrier concentration by adjusting the content of NaCl is conducive to upgrading the electrical transport properties of the materials. The carrier concentration elevated from 2.71 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3 to 4.16 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3, and the materials demonstrated a maximum power factor of 2.9 × 10^-3 W m^-1 K^-2. Combined with an ultralow lattice thermal conductivity of 0.7 W m^-1 K^-1, a high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) with 1.26 at 690 K was attained in PbSe(NaCl)_4.5. This study provides a guideline for chemical doping to improve the thermoelectric properties of PbSe further and promote its applications.

Keywords: NaCl doping; PbSe; chemical doping; salt-assisted; thermoelectric material; thermoelectric performance.

Grants and funding

Financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61904072 and 12265017), the Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects (Nos. 202001AU070025, 202101BE070001-049, 202101AS070018, 202101AV070015), and the Creative Research Group Scheme (in Science and Technology) at the University of Yunnan Province.