Issue 31, 2021

Remarkable thermoelectric property enhancement in Cu2SnS3–CuCo2S4 nanocomposites via 3D modulation doping

Abstract

P-type ternary sulfide Cu2SnS3 and CuCo2S4 with merits of low toxicity, natural abundance and intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity are considered as promising eco-friendly thermoelectric materials. Here, we report a remarkable thermoelectric property enhancement in a Cu2SnS3-based nanocomposite material with the incorporation of 5 mol% CuCo2S4. Like the traditional modulation doping approach, in such a two-phase nanocomposite, charge carriers are mainly derived from the CuCo2S4 (metal-like) phase and transferred to the Cu2SnS3 (semiconductor) phase enabled by an appropriate band alignment. Results reveal that such a hetero-structure can simultaneously improve the unsatisfactory carrier concentration of both the phases to a moderate level and also maintain the high carrier mobility of pristine Cu2SnS3, contributing to an increased power factor of ∼10 μW cm−1 K−2 at 773 K. Meanwhile, the homogeneous distribution of the nanoscale minor phase can effectively impede phonon transport and results in a suppressed lattice thermal conductivity of ∼0.5 W m−1 K−1 at 773 K. Ultimately, a high ZT ∼ 0.83 has been achieved at 773 K which is comparable with that of the best Cu2SnS3-based material obtained by cobalt doping.

Graphical abstract: Remarkable thermoelectric property enhancement in Cu2SnS3–CuCo2S4 nanocomposites via 3D modulation doping

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Apr 2021
Accepted
12 Jul 2021
First published
13 Jul 2021

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021,9, 16928-16935

Remarkable thermoelectric property enhancement in Cu2SnS3–CuCo2S4 nanocomposites via 3D modulation doping

Y. Gu, W. Ai, Y. Zhao, L. Pan, C. Lu, P. Zong, X. Hu, Z. Xu and Y. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021, 9, 16928 DOI: 10.1039/D1TA02812J

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