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Nano Research 2016, 9(1): 117-127 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0892-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 29 October 2015

Thermoelectric properties of solution-synthesized n-type Bi2Te3 nanocomposites modulated by Se: An experimental and theoretical study

Show Author's Information Haiyu Fang1,†,  Je-Hyeong Bahk2,‡,  Tianli Feng3,  Zhe Cheng4,  Amr M. S. Mohammed2,  Xinwei Wang4,  Xiulin Ruan3,  Ali Shakouri2,  Yue Wu5( )
School of Chemical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
Birck Nanotechnology CenterPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
School of Mechanical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
Department of Mechanical EngineeringIowa State UniversityAmesIA50011USA
Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringIowa State UniversityAmesIA50011USA

† Present address: Materials Research Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

‡ Present address: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA

Keywords:
nanostructure, thermoelectric, Bi2Te3, Se doping, solution synthesis
Cite this article:
Fang H, Bahk J-H, Feng T, et al. Thermoelectric properties of solution-synthesized n-type Bi2Te3 nanocomposites modulated by Se: An experimental and theoretical study. Nano Research, 2016, 9(1): 117-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0892-x
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

We report the investigation of the thermoelectric properties of large-scale solution-synthesized Bi2Te3 nanocomposites prepared from nanowires hotpressed into bulk pellets. A third element, Se, is introduced to tune the carrier concentration of the nanocomposites. Due to the Se doping, the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of the nanocomposites is significantly enhanced due to the increased power factor and reduced thermal conductivity. We also find that thermal transport in our hot-pressed pellets is anisotropic, which results in different thermal conductivities along the in-plane and cross-plane directions. Theoretical calculations for both electronic and thermal transport are carried out to establish fundamental understanding of the material system and provide directions for further ZT optimization with adjustments to carrier concentration and mobility.


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About this article

Thermoelectric properties of solution-synthesized n-type Bi2Te3 nanocomposites modulated by Se: An experimental and theoretical study

Show Author's information Haiyu Fang1,†, Je-Hyeong Bahk2,‡, Tianli Feng3, Zhe Cheng4, Amr M. S. Mohammed2, Xinwei Wang4, Xiulin Ruan3, Ali Shakouri2, Yue Wu5( )
School of Chemical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
Birck Nanotechnology CenterPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
School of Mechanical EngineeringPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIN47907USA
Department of Mechanical EngineeringIowa State UniversityAmesIA50011USA
Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringIowa State UniversityAmesIA50011USA

† Present address: Materials Research Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

‡ Present address: Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA

Abstract

We report the investigation of the thermoelectric properties of large-scale solution-synthesized Bi2Te3 nanocomposites prepared from nanowires hotpressed into bulk pellets. A third element, Se, is introduced to tune the carrier concentration of the nanocomposites. Due to the Se doping, the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of the nanocomposites is significantly enhanced due to the increased power factor and reduced thermal conductivity. We also find that thermal transport in our hot-pressed pellets is anisotropic, which results in different thermal conductivities along the in-plane and cross-plane directions. Theoretical calculations for both electronic and thermal transport are carried out to establish fundamental understanding of the material system and provide directions for further ZT optimization with adjustments to carrier concentration and mobility.

Keywords: nanostructure, thermoelectric, Bi2Te3, Se doping, solution synthesis

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 20 July 2015
Revised: 18 August 2015
Accepted: 05 September 2015
Published: 29 October 2015
Issue date: January 2016

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

H. Y. F. thanks Scott Finefrock and Tianyue Gao for the help in Hall measurement. H. Y. F. and Y. W. acknowledge the use of the hot press setup in Prof. Chin-The Sun's lab at Purdue University. H. Y. F. and Y. W. acknowledge Air Force Office of Scientific Research (No. FA9550-12-1-0061). T. L. F. and X. L. R. acknowledge the partial support from National Science Foundation (No. 1150948).

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