Enhanced thermoelectric properties of PbTe0.95via N-type PbS nano-inclusions using a conventional sintering method

Shi, D. and Lam, K. H. (2021) Enhanced thermoelectric properties of PbTe0.95via N-type PbS nano-inclusions using a conventional sintering method. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 9(44), pp. 15977-15982. (doi: 10.1039/d1tc04102a)

Abstract

An N-type lead telluride (PbTe0.95) thermoelectric material prepared by a conventional sintering method (CSM) has been investigated for the first time. N-type nanosized lead sulfide (PbS) fabricated using the one-pot synthesis method was embedded in the PbTe0.95 matrix to enhance the thermoelectric efficiency, zT. It was successfully demonstrated that the CSM could be used to prepare the nanosized n-type PbTe composite with the zT value of ∼1 at 673 K. This value is comparable to the one synthesized using spark plasma sintering and hot press sintering methods. We attribute the enhanced zT to the strong phonon scattering induced by the nanosized PbS. Meanwhile, the nanosized PbS particles, acting as a sintering additive, enhanced the sintering behavior of as-prepared PbTe0.95 powder. It was found that the introduction of 3 wt% nanosized n-type PbS could reduce the lattice thermal conductivity of the pristine sample of PbTe0.95 from 0.914 W m−1 K−1 to 0.59 W m−1 K−1. Finally, a single parabolic band model (SPB) demonstrated that the 3 wt% was the optimized doping amount for the PbS-doped PbTe0.95 composites.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lam, Dr Koko
• Authors: Shi, D., and Lam, K. H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Journal of Materials Chemistry C
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• ISSN: 2050-7526
• ISSN (Online): 2050-7534
• Published Online: 03 November 2021