中国物理B ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (10): 107303-107303.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/ac6ee8

• REVIEW • 上一篇    下一篇

Energy band and charge-carrier engineering in skutterudite thermoelectric materials

Zhiyuan Liu(刘志愿)1,2,†, Ting Yang(杨婷)2, Yonggui Wang(王永贵)2, Ailin Xia(夏爱林)1,2, and Lianbo Ma(马连波)1,2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Green Fabrication and Surface Technology of Advanced Metal Materials (Ministry of Education), Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China;
    2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China
  • 收稿日期:2022-03-29 修回日期:2022-05-02 出版日期:2022-10-16 发布日期:2022-09-16
  • 通讯作者: Zhiyuan Liu E-mail:zhiyuanliu826@ahut.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    This review was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51872006) and the Excellent Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province of China (Grant No. 2208085Y17).

Energy band and charge-carrier engineering in skutterudite thermoelectric materials

Zhiyuan Liu(刘志愿)1,2,†, Ting Yang(杨婷)2, Yonggui Wang(王永贵)2, Ailin Xia(夏爱林)1,2, and Lianbo Ma(马连波)1,2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Green Fabrication and Surface Technology of Advanced Metal Materials (Ministry of Education), Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China;
    2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243002, China
  • Received:2022-03-29 Revised:2022-05-02 Online:2022-10-16 Published:2022-09-16
  • Contact: Zhiyuan Liu E-mail:zhiyuanliu826@ahut.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This review was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51872006) and the Excellent Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province of China (Grant No. 2208085Y17).

摘要: The binary CoSb3 skutterudite thermoelectric material has high thermal conductivity due to the covalent bond between Co and Sb, and the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, is very low. The thermal conductivity of CoSb3 materials can be significantly reduced through phonon engineering, such as low-dimensional structure, the introduction of nano second phases, nanointerfaces or nanopores, which greatly improves their ZT values. The phonon engineering can optimize significantly the thermal transport properties of CoSb3-based materials. However, the improvement of the electronic transport properties is not obvious, or even worse. Energy band and charge-carrier engineering can significantly improve the electronic transport properties of CoSb3-based materials while optimizing the thermal transport properties. Therefore, the decoupling of thermal and electronic transport properties of CoSb3-based materials can be realized by energy band and charge-carrier engineering. This review summarizes some methods of optimizing synergistically the electronic and thermal transport properties of CoSb3 materials through the energy band and charge-carrier engineering strategies. Energy band engineering strategies include band convergence or resonant energy levels caused by doping/filling. The charge-carrier engineering strategy includes the optimization of carrier concentration and mobility caused by doping/filling, forming modulation doped structures or introducing nano second phase. These strategies are effective means to improve performance of thermoelectric materials and provide new research ideas of development of high-efficiency thermoelectric materials.

关键词: CoSb3-based skutterudite materials, energy band engineering, charge-carrier engineering, thermoelectric properties

Abstract: The binary CoSb3 skutterudite thermoelectric material has high thermal conductivity due to the covalent bond between Co and Sb, and the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, is very low. The thermal conductivity of CoSb3 materials can be significantly reduced through phonon engineering, such as low-dimensional structure, the introduction of nano second phases, nanointerfaces or nanopores, which greatly improves their ZT values. The phonon engineering can optimize significantly the thermal transport properties of CoSb3-based materials. However, the improvement of the electronic transport properties is not obvious, or even worse. Energy band and charge-carrier engineering can significantly improve the electronic transport properties of CoSb3-based materials while optimizing the thermal transport properties. Therefore, the decoupling of thermal and electronic transport properties of CoSb3-based materials can be realized by energy band and charge-carrier engineering. This review summarizes some methods of optimizing synergistically the electronic and thermal transport properties of CoSb3 materials through the energy band and charge-carrier engineering strategies. Energy band engineering strategies include band convergence or resonant energy levels caused by doping/filling. The charge-carrier engineering strategy includes the optimization of carrier concentration and mobility caused by doping/filling, forming modulation doped structures or introducing nano second phase. These strategies are effective means to improve performance of thermoelectric materials and provide new research ideas of development of high-efficiency thermoelectric materials.

Key words: CoSb3-based skutterudite materials, energy band engineering, charge-carrier engineering, thermoelectric properties

中图分类号:  (Thermoelectric effects)

  • 73.50.Lw
84.60.Rb (Thermoelectric, electrogasdynamic and other direct energy conversion) 74.25.F- (Transport properties) 74.25.fc (Electric and thermal conductivity)