Tuning Interstitials in Fully Dense β-Zn4Sb3 Doubles Single-Leg Thermoelectric Efficiency

I-Lun Jen; Chia-Shien Lin; Kuang-Kuo Wang; Hsin-Jay Wu

doi:10.1021/acsami.3c10967

Tuning Interstitials in Fully Dense β-Zn₄Sb₃ Doubles Single-Leg Thermoelectric Efficiency

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Nov 8;15(44):51110-51116. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c10967. Epub 2023 Oct 30.

Authors

I-Lun Jen¹, Chia-Shien Lin¹, Kuang-Kuo Wang², Hsin-Jay Wu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 30010, Taiwan.
² Department of Materials and Optoelectronic Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan.

PMID: 37903337
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c10967

Abstract

Zinc antimonides, particularly the β-Zn₄Sb₃ compound, act as prototypes in the early phases of thermoelectric generator (TEG) development. However, their potential applications are constrained by structural instability at elevated temperatures. In this study, introducing a low concentration of aluminum (Al) achieves a highly stable Al-Zn₄Sb₃, exhibiting an improved peak zT value compared to undoped Zn₄Sb₃. Notably, a single-leg device utilizing a fully dense Al_0.01Zn_3.99Sb₃ demonstrates an impressive conversion efficiency (η) of 3% even at a temperature difference (ΔT) of 225 K. This result represents an approximately 200% increase compared with the pristine one. The combination of dilute cationic doping and phase diagram engineering solidifies the potential of Zn₄Sb₃ as an efficient and sustainable green energy device.

Keywords: conversion efficiency; dilute cationic doping; phase diagram engineering; thermoelectric generator; β-Zn4Sb3.