Enhanced thermoelectric composite performance from mesoporous carbon additives in a commercial Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 matrix

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.02.072

Abstract

Abstract:

Composites were prepared, through hot pressing, using carbon materials with different pore size distributions as additives for commercial Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ thermoelectric material (BST, p-type). Thermoelectric properties of the composites were measured in a temperature range of 298‒473 K. Thermal conductivity of the composites, especially lattice thermal conductivity, was effectively decreased due to the mesoporous properties of the incorporated carbon additives. The electrical conductivity of the composites slightly decreased due to the electron scattering at the interface between the carbon material and the commercial BST matrix. The composite with 0.2 vol.% mesoporous carbon powder (36% mesoporosity) exhibited a figure of merit value approximately 10.7% higher than that of commercial BST without additives. This behavior resulted in 116% improved output power in the composite block-based single element compared with a bare BST thermoelectric block. The enhanced figure of merit was attributed to the effective reduction of lattice thermal conductivity by acoustic phonons scattering at the interface between the BST matrix and the mesoporous carbon as well as at the pore surfaces within the mesoporous carbon. By utilizing mesoporous carbon materials used in this study, the shortcomings and economic difficulties of the composite process with low dimensional carbon additives (carbon nanotubes, graphene, and nanodiamond) can be overcome for extensive practical applications. Mesoporous carbon powder with a tailored porosity distribution revealed the validity of bulk-type carbon additives to enhance the figure of merit of commercial thermoelectric materials.

Key words: Thermoelectric material, Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃, Mesoporous carbon, Lattice thermal conductivity, Figure of merit

Seong-Tae Kim, Jong Min Park, Kwi-Il Park, Sang-Eun Chun, Ho Seong Lee, Pyuck-Pa Choi, Seonghoon Yi. Enhanced thermoelectric composite performance from mesoporous carbon additives in a commercial Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ matrix[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2021, 94: 175-182.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1. Secondary electron microscope (SEM) images of carbon powders: (a) Norit, (b) PVDF, (c) 2PV1PT, (d) PVsol.

Table 1 Specific surface area and green density of porous carbon powders.

Sample	Mesopore ratio (%)	Specific surface area (m² g^-1)	Green density (g cm^-3)
Norit	27.8	1779	0.59
PVDF	17.3	971	1.00
2PV1PT	23.9	1324	0.59
PVsol	36.3	1230	0.30

Fig. 2. Backscattered electron (BSE) images of an as-hot pressed composite: (a) vertical section, (b) horizontal section.

Fig. 3. X-ray diffraction results of as-hot pressed composites according to the sectional direction. Peaks of (00l) planes are labeled.

Fig. 4. Thermoelectric properties of hot-pressed composites: (a) electrical conductivity, (b) Seebeck coefficient, and (c) power factor.

Table 2 Hall measurement data of BST + porous carbon powder composites at room temperature.

Sample	Carrier concentration (cm^-3)	Electrical conductivity (S m^-1)	Mobility (cm² V^-1 s^-1)
Bare BST	2.12 × 10¹⁹	27,729	81.77
Norit-BST	2.10 × 10¹⁹	25,613	76.15
PVDF-BST	2.03 × 10¹⁹	26,245	80.50
2PV1PT-BST	2.16 × 10¹⁹	26,788	77.49
PVsol-BST	2.12 × 10¹⁹	26,553	78.03

Fig. 5. Mobility of the composites with different specific surface areas at 300 K.

Fig. 6. Thermal conductivity and figure-of-merit of composites with 0.2 vol.% carbon material: (a) total thermal conductivity (κtotal), (b) electronic thermal conductivity (κele), (c) lattice thermal conductivity (κlat), and (d) figure-of-merit, zT.

Fig. 7. (a) Lattice thermal conductivity (closed symbol) and electrical conductivity (open symbol) of composites with mesopore ratios of four carbon additives and (b) pore size distribution plots of the four carbon samples.

Fig. 8. Schematic illustrating phonon scattering in the mesoporous carbon incorporated composite. Acoustic phonons are scattered at the interface between BST and mesoporous carbon as well as at the pore surface within the mesoporous carbon.

Fig. 9. (a) Photograph of the measurement setup for evaluating the output performance of the PVsol-BST block-based single element. The inset shows the cross-sectional scheme of the single element. (b) Simulated thermoelectric potential and temperature distributions (inset) inside the PVsol-BST block. (c, d) Voltage-current and power-current curves of the bare BST block (c) and PVsol-BST block-based single element (d).

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Enhanced thermoelectric composite performance from mesoporous carbon additives in a commercial Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ matrix

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