Designing high performance thermoelectric materials

Abstract

Thermoelectric properties of CuIn1-xSbxTe2 (x=0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, 0.1) have been studied. We have synthesized the samples through a solid stated reaction method using spark plasma sintering. For characterization of electric and thermal properties, ZEM-3, and Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) were used. For the morphology characterization, XRD and SEM (EDX) were used. The presence of Sb results in a rise in the carrier concentration from the presence of acceptor that create higher electrical conductivity and power factor. The thermoelectric efficiency is related to figure of merit, where it is proportional with Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity and inversely proportional with thermal conductivity. In this experiment, we want to decrease the thermal conductivity by increasing the anharmonicity by doping CuInTe2 system with Sb that will increase the phonon scattering. The phonon scattering will decrease the thermal conductivity of our materials. By doping Sb into CuInTe2, improved figure of merit will be observed for a certain doping concentration of Sb.