Feasibility of high performance in p-type Ge1−xBixTe materials for thermoelectric modules

Zinovi Dashevsky, Ihor Horichok, Mykola Maksymuk, Ahmad Rifqi Muchtar, Bhuvanesh Srinivasan, Takao Mori

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

GeTe is a promising candidate for the fabrication of high-temperature segments for p-type thermoelectric (TE) legs. The main restriction for the widespread use of this material in TE devices is high carrier concentration (up to ∼ 1021 cm−3), which causes the low Seebeck coefficient and high electronic component of thermal conductivity. In this work, the band structure diagram and phase equilibria data have been effectively used to attune the carrier concentration and to obtain the high TE performance. The Ge1−xBixTe (x = 0.04) material prepared by the Spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique demonstrates a high power factor accompanied by moderate thermal conductivity. As a result, a significantly higher dimensionless TE figure of merit ZT = 2.0 has been obtained at ∼ 800 K. Moreover, we are the first to propose that application of the developed Ge1−xBixTe (x = 0.04) material in the TE unicouple should be accompanied by SnTe and CoGe2 transition layers. Only such a unique solution for the TE unicouple makes it possible to prevent the negative effects of high contact resistance and chemical diffusion between the segments at high temperatures.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4500-4511
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of the American Ceramic Society
Volume105
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2022

Keywords

  • band structure
  • phase diagram
  • segmented unicouple
  • thermoelectric properties

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Materials Chemistry

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