Thermoelectric performance of Cu2Se doped with rapidly synthesized gel-like carbon dotsShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds, ISSN 0925-8388, E-ISSN 1873-4669, Vol. 864, article id 157916Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
As an earth-abundant, inexpensive and non-toxic compound, Copper Selenide (Cu2Se) is a frequently investigated material for thermoelectric (TE) conversion applications. In this research, stoichiometric Cu2Se compounds were systematically doped with gel-like Carbon Dots (CDs), that were fabricated using a rapid and straightforward solvothermal method, at weight ratios of 2, 5 and 10%. The resultant ingots were spark plasma sintered and their TE performance was characterized. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDX) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) were used to correlate the microstructure to the TE properties. Based on these measurements, CD doping strategy on Cu2Se yielded highly compacted, single phase grains with minimal oxidation. Characterization demonstrated a continuous enhancement of TE figure of merit (ZT) to a maximum of 2.1 at the optimum dopant ratio of 2 wt %. This enhancement was mainly due to the energy filtering effect of CD interfaces along the grain boundaries, and phonon scattering which increased the Seebeck coefficient and reduce the thermal conductivity. Doping beyond 2 wt% was recorded to inhibit this improvement. This research paved the path towards broader utilization of rapidly fabricated CDs to enhance TE conversion performance.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2021. Vol. 864, article id 157916
Keywords [en]
Thermoelectric, Carbon dots, Copper selenide, High efficiency
National Category
Chemical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-293141DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.157916ISI: 000624942300002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85100232683OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-293141DiVA, id: diva2:1546072
Note
QC 20210421
2021-04-212021-04-212022-06-25Bibliographically approved