TY - JOUR
T1 - Low-temperature, solution-based, scalable synthesis of Sb 2Te3 nanoparticles with an enhanced power factor
AU - Yang, Heng Quan
AU - Miao, Lei
AU - Zhang, Ming
AU - Ohno, Kaoru
AU - Zhou, Jian Hua
AU - Gu, Hui
AU - Shen, Yang
AU - Lin, Hong
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 51172234), the Opening Project of the State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure (project no. SKL201204SIC), and the State Key Laboratory of New Ceramic and Fine Processing of Tsinghua University.
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - Nanostructured thermoelectric (TE) materials, for example Sb 2Te3, PbTe, and SiGe-based semiconductors, have excellent thermoelectric transport properties and are promising candidates for next-generation TE commercial application. However, it is a challenge to synthesize the corresponding pure nanocrystals with controlled size by low-temperature wet-chemical reaction. Herein, we report an alternative versatile solution-based method for synthesis of plate-like Sb 2Te3 nanoparticles in a flask using SbCl3 and Te powders as raw materials, EDTA-Na2 as complexing agent, and NaBH4 as reducing agent in the solvent (distilled water). To investigate their thermoelectric transport properties, the obtained powders were cold compacted into cuboid prisms then annealed under a protective N 2 atmosphere. The results showed that both the electrical conductivity (σ) and the power factor (S 2 σ) can be enhanced by improving the purity of the products and by increasing the annealing temperature. The highest power factor was 2.04 μW cm-1 K -2 at 140°C and electrical conductivity remained in the range 5-10 × 103 S m-1. This work provides a simple and economic approach to preparation of large quantities of nanostructured Sb 2Te3 with excellent TE performance, making it a fascinating candidate for commercialization of cooling devices.
AB - Nanostructured thermoelectric (TE) materials, for example Sb 2Te3, PbTe, and SiGe-based semiconductors, have excellent thermoelectric transport properties and are promising candidates for next-generation TE commercial application. However, it is a challenge to synthesize the corresponding pure nanocrystals with controlled size by low-temperature wet-chemical reaction. Herein, we report an alternative versatile solution-based method for synthesis of plate-like Sb 2Te3 nanoparticles in a flask using SbCl3 and Te powders as raw materials, EDTA-Na2 as complexing agent, and NaBH4 as reducing agent in the solvent (distilled water). To investigate their thermoelectric transport properties, the obtained powders were cold compacted into cuboid prisms then annealed under a protective N 2 atmosphere. The results showed that both the electrical conductivity (σ) and the power factor (S 2 σ) can be enhanced by improving the purity of the products and by increasing the annealing temperature. The highest power factor was 2.04 μW cm-1 K -2 at 140°C and electrical conductivity remained in the range 5-10 × 103 S m-1. This work provides a simple and economic approach to preparation of large quantities of nanostructured Sb 2Te3 with excellent TE performance, making it a fascinating candidate for commercialization of cooling devices.
KW - Thermoelectric materials
KW - anti-structure defects
KW - antimony telluride
KW - growth mechanism
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U2 - 10.1007/s11664-014-2995-7
DO - 10.1007/s11664-014-2995-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84901945825
VL - 43
SP - 2165
EP - 2173
JO - Journal of Electronic Materials
JF - Journal of Electronic Materials
SN - 0361-5235
IS - 6
ER -