Optimizing Electrical and Thermal Transport Property in BiCuSeO Superlattice via Heterolayer-isovalent Dual-doping Approach

doi:10.15541/jim20180303

Abstract

Abstract:

Taking the dual-sublayer BiCuSeO superlattice thermoelectric material as an object, equivalent mono- and dual-doped samples were prepared by substitution of Bi and Cu atoms in the corresponding [Bi₂O₂]²⁺ sublayer and [Cu₂Se₂]^2- sublayer with isovalent La and Ag atoms. Their thermoelectric properties and the defect modulation mechanism were studied. The results showed that La-Ag dual-doped sample could combine the advantages of mono-doped samples to achieve an relative high carrier mobility while moderately increasing the carrier concentration, thereby maximizing the electrical conductivity. At the same time, it can also induce a potential band convergenceeffect, achieving the low average band effective mass and high density of states effective mass at the same time, which finally endowed Bi_0.98La_0.02Cu_0.98Ag_0.02SeO with simultaneous high carrier mobility and Seebeck coefficient, as well as the optimized power factor (PF=σS²). On the other hand, due to the strong point defect scattering on the heat-carrying phonons, the lattice and total thermal conductivities of these isovalent doped samples were further reduced, which finally optimized the figure of merit (ZT). As a result, a high ZT value of 0.46 was achieved at 755K in the La-Ag dual-doped sample, which was superior to that of the pristine sample (0.27 at 755 K) as well as the mono-doped counterparts. Present work demonstrates that heterolayer-isovalent dual-doping with La/Ag equivalent atoms in BiCuSeO can synergistically modulate its thermoelectric transport parameters with significantly improved thermoelectric performance.

Key words: heterolayer dual-doping, BiCuSeO, thermoelectric property, electrical-thermal transport, synergistic modulation

CLC Number:

O472

LI Zhou, XIAO Chong. Optimizing Electrical and Thermal Transport Property in BiCuSeO Superlattice via Heterolayer-isovalent Dual-doping Approach[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2019, 34(3): 294-300.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Crystal structure of BiCuSeO with ZrSiCuAs-type tetragonal structure[16]

Fig. 2 XRD patterns for Bi1-xLaxCu1-yAgySeO samples(a); SEM image (b), [010] HRTEM image (c) and SAED pattern (d) of pristine BiCuSeO

Fig. 3 Element mapping of La-Ag dual-doping sample

Fig. 4 Temperature-dependent electrical conductivity (a), Seebeck coefficient (b) and power factor of Bi1-xLaxCu1-yAgySeO samples; (d) Carrier concentration and mobility at 300K

Fig. 5 Temperature-dependent total thermal conductivity (a), electrical and lattice thermal conductivities (b), percentage of electrical thermal conductivity (c) and dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit (d) for Bi1-xLaxCu1-yAgySeO samples

Fig. 6 Electrical band structure (a) and UV-Vis absorption spectra(b) of Bi1-xLaxCu1-yAgySeO samples, (c) Schematic representation of the convergence of heavy-light bands

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