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Research Article | Open Access

Greatly enhanced mechanical properties of thermoelectric SnSe through microstructure engineering

Chen Chena, Bin-Hao Wanga, Chen Chenb( ), Hai-Dong Zhaoa, Bin Zhanga, Dan Wanga, Tao Shena, Peng-Hui Lia, Song Zhaoa, Dong-Li Yua, Yong-Jun Tiana, Bo Xua( )
Center for High Pressure Science (CHiPS), State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004, China
School of Physical Sciences, Great Bay University, Dongguan 523000, China
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Abstract

The outstanding thermoelectric material, SnSe, is also known for its inferior mechanical properties, which bring great inconvenience for its application in thermoelectric devices. In this work, SnSe bulks were prepared via a sequential procedure of high-pressure synthesis (HPS), ball milling, and spark plasma sintering (SPS). The produced polycrystalline samples with a unique microstructure of tightly-bound quasi-equiaxed grains exhibited excellent mechanical properties. The Vickers hardness (HV), compressive strength (σc), and bending strength (σb) reached 1.1 GPa, 300 MPa, and 90 MPa, respectively, all of which are far superior to those of ordinary polycrystalline SnSe. Furthermore, the microstructures did not deteriorate thermoelectric performance. This work demonstrated an effective procedure to prepare polycrystalline microstructure-engineered SnSe materials, which not only show advantages in device applications but also shed light on property enhancement for other layer-structured thermoelectric materials.

Keywords

thermoelectric materialsSnSemechanical propertieshardness

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Journal of Advanced Ceramics
Volume 12 Issue 5,
May 2023
Pages 1081-1089
DOI: 10.26599/JAC.2023.9220740
Cite this article:
Chen C, Wang B-H, Chen C, et al. Greatly enhanced mechanical properties of thermoelectric SnSe through microstructure engineering. Journal of Advanced Ceramics, 2023, 12(5): 1081-1089. https://doi.org/10.26599/JAC.2023.9220740

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Received: 17 December 2022
Revised: 09 February 2023
Accepted: 02 March 2023
Published: 11 April 2023
© The Author(s) 2023.

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