DOI: 10.1063/1.3446094. Influence of nanostructuring and heterogeneous nucleation on the thermoelectric figure of merit in AgSbTe2

Influence of nanostructuring and heterogeneous nucleation on the thermoelectric figure of merit in AgSbTe2

10.1063/1.3446094

Crossref journal-article

AIP Publishing

Journal of Applied Physics (317)

Abstract

In some cases, nanoscale microstructures improve thermoelectric efficiency, but this phenomenon has rarely been studied systematically for precipitates in bulk materials. We quantified the influence of nanostructuring on the thermoelectric figure of merit (zT) by embedding Sb2Te3 inclusions, from nanometer to micron sizes, in an Sb-rich AgSbTe2 matrix through solid-state precipitation. Nucleation/growth and coarsening regimes of precipitate formation had a clear effect on transport properties, which could be understood using the effective medium theory of a two-phase composite. The majority of precipitates nucleated heterogeneously at grain boundaries and at planar defects found in the matrix phase, forming a complex interconnected network. This heterogeneous nucleation causes the precipitate/matrix system to follow effective medium theory even at small precipitate sizes, thus lowering the figure of merit. Therefore, heterogeneous nucleation is a major obstacle to efficiency improvement using nanoscale precipitates in bulk thermoelectrics.

Bibliography

Sharma, P. A., Sugar, J. D., & Medlin, D. L. (2010). Influence of nanostructuring and heterogeneous nucleation on the thermoelectric figure of merit in AgSbTe2. Journal of Applied Physics, 107(11).

Authors 3

P. A. Sharma (first)
J. D. Sugar (additional)
D. L. Medlin (additional)

References 42 Referenced 32

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Dates

Type	When
Created	15 years, 2 months ago (June 14, 2010, 6:13 p.m.)
Deposited	2 years, 1 month ago (June 24, 2023, 7:55 p.m.)
Indexed	3 weeks, 1 day ago (July 30, 2025, 6:54 a.m.)
Issued	15 years, 2 months ago (June 1, 2010)
Published	15 years, 2 months ago (June 1, 2010)
Published Online	15 years, 2 months ago (June 14, 2010)
Published Print	15 years, 2 months ago (June 1, 2010)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Sharma_2010, title={Influence of nanostructuring and heterogeneous nucleation on the thermoelectric figure of merit in AgSbTe2}, volume={107}, ISSN={1089-7550}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3446094}, DOI={10.1063/1.3446094}, number={11}, journal={Journal of Applied Physics}, publisher={AIP Publishing}, author={Sharma, P. A. and Sugar, J. D. and Medlin, D. L.}, year={2010}, month=jun }

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