Enhancing thermoelectric performance of Cu2Se by doping Te

Abstract

Owing to the excellent electrical properties and inherently complex crystal structure, Cu₂Se has been considered as a promising thermoelectric (TE) material. Herein, a series of Cu₂Se_1−xTe_x (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08) bulk samples are prepared by combining mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) to investigate the effect of Te content (x) on the phase structure, microstructure and TE properties of stoichiometric Cu₂Se. It is found that a maximum TE figure of merit (ZT) value of 1.25 could be achieved for Cu₂Se_0.98Te_0.02 sample at 773 K, which essentially stemmed from the elevated power factor (PF) and reduced thermal conductivity (κ). The results obtained in our study indicate that the introduction of Te into stoichiometric Cu₂Se is an effective and convenient strategy to improve ZT by enhancing PF and decreasing κ.