Large Seebeck effect by charge-mobility engineering
10.1038/ncomms8475
Crossref journal-article
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Nature Communications (297)
Abstract

AbstractThe Seebeck effect describes the generation of an electric potential in a conducting solid exposed to a temperature gradient. In most cases, it is dominated by an energy-dependent electronic density of states at the Fermi level, in line with the prevalent efforts towards superior thermoelectrics through the engineering of electronic structure. Here we demonstrate an alternative source for the Seebeck effect based on charge-carrier relaxation: a charge mobility that changes rapidly with temperature can result in a sizeable addition to the Seebeck coefficient. This new Seebeck source is demonstrated explicitly for Ni-doped CoSb3, where a marked mobility change occurs due to the crossover between two different charge-relaxation regimes. Our findings unveil the origin of pronounced features in the Seebeck coefficient of many other elusive materials characterized by a significant mobility mismatch. When utilized appropriately, this effect can also provide a novel route to the design of improved thermoelectric materials.

Bibliography

Sun, P., Wei, B., Zhang, J., Tomczak, J. M., Strydom, A. M., Søndergaard, M., Iversen, B. B., & Steglich, F. (2015). Large Seebeck effect by charge-mobility engineering. Nature Communications, 6(1).

Authors 8
  1. Peijie Sun (first)
  2. Beipei Wei (additional)
  3. Jiahao Zhang (additional)
  4. Jan M. Tomczak (additional)
  5. A.M. Strydom (additional)
  6. M. Søndergaard (additional)
  7. Bo B. Iversen (additional)
  8. Frank Steglich (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 10 years, 2 months ago (June 25, 2015, 6:27 a.m.)
Deposited 2 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 5, 2023, 6:27 a.m.)
Indexed 1 week, 3 days ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 6:47 a.m.)
Issued 10 years, 2 months ago (June 25, 2015)
Published 10 years, 2 months ago (June 25, 2015)
Published Online 10 years, 2 months ago (June 25, 2015)
Funders 0

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@article{Sun_2015, title={Large Seebeck effect by charge-mobility engineering}, volume={6}, ISSN={2041-1723}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8475}, DOI={10.1038/ncomms8475}, number={1}, journal={Nature Communications}, publisher={Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, author={Sun, Peijie and Wei, Beipei and Zhang, Jiahao and Tomczak, Jan M. and Strydom, A.M. and Søndergaard, M. and Iversen, Bo B. and Steglich, Frank}, year={2015}, month=jun }