Basu, Ranita and Mandava, Srikanth and Bohra, Anil and Bhattacharya, Shovit and Bhatt, Ranu and Ahmad, Sajid and Bhattacharyya, Kaustava and Samanta, Soumen and Debnath, A. K. and Singh, Ajay and Aswal, D. K. and Muthe, K. P and Gadkari, S. C. (2019) Improving the Thermoelectric Performance of Tetrahedrally Bonded Quaternary Selenide Cu2CdSnSe4 Using CdSe Precipitates. Journal of Electronic Materials , 48 (4). 2120-2130. ISSN 0361-5235

PDF - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (2362Kb) | Request a copy

Abstract

The creation of a microstructure that allows electron transport while blocking phonons is considered to be ideal for improving the performance of thermoelectric materials. Various thermoelectric materials exhibiting high figure of merit due to decreased thermal conductivity based on a complex crystal structure and the creation of secondary phases that result in coherent interfaces with the matrix have been reported recently. We report herein a Cu2CdSnSe4-CdSe composite that exhibits low thermal conductivity (approximate to 0.56Wm(-1)K(-1)), resulting in high thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) of approximate to 0.65 (at 725K). The extremely low thermal conductivity of the composite is attributed to scattering of a wide spectrum of phonons at (1) coherent interfaces between the Cu2CdSnSe4 matrix and CdSe precipitates, (2) the multiple elements and complex crystal structure of Cu2CdSnSe4, and (3) nanovoids formed due to vaporization of Cd during hot pressing at 1073K. In addition to the improved ZT, the compatibility factor of this composite material is very close to that of p-type Bi2Se3 at around 573K, suggesting its importance for the development of segmented thermoelectric power generators for use in the intermediate temperature range with the promise of high efficiency.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to M/s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Subjects:	Engineering > Electronics and Electrical Engineering Materials Science Applied Physics/Condensed Matter
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Mr. Yogesh Joshi
Date Deposited:	19 Aug 2026 11:21
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2026 11:21
URI:	https://npl.csircentral.net/id/eprint/4252

Actions (login required)

View Item