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Research paper | Open Access

Bismuth-free Mg3Sb2 with enhanced room-temperature thermoelectric and mechanical properties

Jie Songa, Peng Luoa, Hailong Suna, Hezhang Lib( ), Chao Wangb, Yi Niua( ), Jing Jianga( )
Clean Energy Materials and Engineering Center, State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, China
The State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

Peer review under responsibility of The Chinese Ceramic Society.

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Graphical Abstract

Abstract

Thermoelectric materials are competitive candidates for special cooling applications. Mg3Sb2-based materials consisting of inexpensive ingredients have profound thermoelectric properties. At present, alloying with Mg3Bi2 is the most effective approach to optimize the thermoelectric properties of Mg3Sb2-based materials. However, the extremely low abundance of bismuth in the crust contradicts its economic expectation. In this work, the ZrO2 micro-particles were separated into the Mg3.2Sb1.99Te0.01. The doping effect of Zr atoms at Mg sites increased the electrical conductivity, and the combined secondary phase lowered the lattice thermal conductivity. With acceptable degradation in the Seebeck coefficient, the sample combined with 5% (in mass) ZrO2 exhibited a dimensionless figure of merit (zT) of 0.49 and a power factor of 2.7 mW·m−1·K−2 near room temperature. The average zT in the range from 300 K to 500 K reached 0.8, on par with the Mg3Sb2Mg3Bi2 alloys. Besides, the compressive and bending strengths reach 669 MPa and 269 MPa, respectively, far superior to the common room-temperature thermoelectrics. This secondary phase showed a surprising and uncostly promotion of the Mg3Sb2-based thermoelectric materials, impelling the realization of its commercial application.

Keywords

Mg3Sb2-Mg3Bi2 alloySecondary phaseRoom-temperature thermoelectric propertiesMechanical propertiesInexpensive ingredients

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Journal of Materiomics
Volume 10 Issue 5,
September 2024
Pages 1101-1108
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmat.2023.11.012
Cite this article:
Song J, Luo P, Sun H, et al. Bismuth-free Mg3Sb2 with enhanced room-temperature thermoelectric and mechanical properties. Journal of Materiomics, 2024, 10(5): 1101-1108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmat.2023.11.012

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Received: 20 September 2023
Revised: 12 November 2023
Accepted: 23 November 2023
Published: 12 December 2023
© 2023 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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