Global band convergence design for high-performance thermoelectric power generation in Zintls

作者：Xin Shi, Shaowei Song, Guanhui Gao, Zhifeng Ren · 发表于：Science · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1126/science.adn7265 · 被引用次数：140 · 研究领域：Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices、Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies、Thermal properties of materials

Electronic band convergence can have a beneficial impact on thermoelectric performance, but finding the right band-converged compositions is still time-consuming. We propose a method for designing a series of compositions with simultaneous band convergence in the high-entropy Yb x Ca 1− x Mg y Zn 2− y Sb 2 material by zeroing the weighted sum of crystal-field splitting energies of the parent compounds. We found that so-designed compositions have both larger power factors and lower thermal conductivities and that one of these compositions exhibits a large thermoelectric figure of merit value in comparison with to other p-type Zintls. Our material shows high stability both thermally and temporally. We then assembled an all-Zintl single-stage module, nontoxic and free of tellurium, that demonstrates an exceptional heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency exceeding 10% at a temperature difference of 475 kelvin.