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Tellurium as a high-performance elemental thermoelectric

Author

Listed:
  • Siqi Lin

    (Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University)

  • Wen Li

    (Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University)

  • Zhiwei Chen

    (Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University)

  • Jiawen Shen

    (Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University)

  • Binghui Ge

    (Beijing national laboratory for condensed matter physics, Institute of physics, Chinese academy of science)

  • Yanzhong Pei

    (Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University)

Abstract

High-efficiency thermoelectric materials require a high conductivity. It is known that a large number of degenerate band valleys offers many conducting channels for improving the conductivity without detrimental effects on the other properties explicitly, and therefore, increases thermoelectric performance. In addition to the strategy of converging different bands, many semiconductors provide an inherent band nestification, equally enabling a large number of effective band valley degeneracy. Here we show as an example that a simple elemental semiconductor, tellurium, exhibits a high thermoelectric figure of merit of unity, not only demonstrating the concept but also filling up the high performance gap from 300 to 700 K for elemental thermoelectrics. The concept used here should be applicable in general for thermoelectrics with similar band features.

Suggested Citation

  • Siqi Lin & Wen Li & Zhiwei Chen & Jiawen Shen & Binghui Ge & Yanzhong Pei, 2016. "Tellurium as a high-performance elemental thermoelectric," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-6, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10287
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10287
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    Cited by:

    1. Mingjin Dai & Chongwu Wang & Bo Qiang & Yuhao Jin & Ming Ye & Fakun Wang & Fangyuan Sun & Xuran Zhang & Yu Luo & Qi Jie Wang, 2023. "Long-wave infrared photothermoelectric detectors with ultrahigh polarization sensitivity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Decheng An & Senhao Zhang & Xin Zhai & Wutao Yang & Riga Wu & Huaide Zhang & Wenhao Fan & Wenxian Wang & Shaoping Chen & Oana Cojocaru-Mirédin & Xian-Ming Zhang & Matthias Wuttig & Yuan Yu, 2024. "Metavalently bonded tellurides: the essence of improved thermoelectric performance in elemental Te," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Kaja Bilińska & Dominika Goles & Maciej J. Winiarski, 2023. "A theoretical investigation of 18-electron half-Heusler tellurides in terms of potential thermoelectric value," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 96(10), pages 1-8, October.
    4. Linlin Li & Shufang Zhao & Wenhao Ran & Zhexin Li & Yongxu Yan & Bowen Zhong & Zheng Lou & Lili Wang & Guozhen Shen, 2022. "Dual sensing signal decoupling based on tellurium anisotropy for VR interaction and neuro-reflex system application," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    5. Qing-Xia Chen & Yu-Yang Lu & Yang Yang & Li-Ge Chang & Yi Li & Yuan Yang & Zhen He & Jian-Wei Liu & Yong Ni & Shu-Hong Yu, 2024. "Stress-induced ordering evolution of 1D segmented heteronanostructures and their chemical post-transformations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.

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