Bin Zhan

Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Pb-doped BiCuSeO Ceramics

A high-performance thermoelectric oxyselenide BiCuSeO ceramic with ZT > 1.1 at 823 K and higher average ZT value (ZTave ≈0.8) is obtained. The heavy doping element and nanostructures can effectively tune its electronic structure, hole concentration, and thermal conductivity, resulting in substantially enhanced mobility, power factor, and thus ZT value. This work provides a path to high-performance thermoelectric ceramics.

Doping for higher thermoelectric properties in p-type BiCuSeO oxyselenide

The low power factor (PF) of BiCuSeO oxyselenide inhibits further improvement on thermoelectric figure of merit in the moderate temperature range. In this Letter, we show that the electron transport properties of doped BiCuSeO oxyselenide can be accurately described in acoustic phonon scattering assumption within the framework of single parabolic band model. It is further found that the doping elements alter the electron transport properties by tuning the effective mass and deformation potential. Based on these understandings, we argue that the higher power factor can be achieved by choosing the doping element based on reducing deformation potential coefficient and decreasing effective mass.

Enhanced thermoelectric performance of La-doped BiCuSeO by tuning band structure

Bi1−xLaxCuSeO ceramic bulks have been prepared by the spark plasma sintering method. Our results indicate that La-doping can lead to an obvious change of the band structure evidenced by the absorption spectra and electric transportation behaviors (e.g., m* and Seebeck coefficient). The variation of band structure results in a great enhancement of carrier mobility caused by a decreased energy offset between the primary and secondary valence bands. A maximum ZT value of 0.74 can be obtained in 8% La-doped BiCuSeO sample at 923 K, which is 37% higher than that of the pure BiCuSeO bulk. Our results reveal that band engineering is an effective way to enhance the thermoelectric properties of BiCuSeO system.

Ferromagnetism in antiferromagnetic NiO-based thin films

Polycrystalline NiO-based thin films with Li or/and transition metal ions (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn) doping have been prepared by a sol-gel spin-coating method. Magnetization measurements reveal that V-, Fe-, and Mn-doped NiO thin films show obvious room-temperature ferromagnetic behaviors and ferromagnetic properties can be enhanced by the Li co-doping. Microstructure and X-ray core-level photoemission spectra analysis indicate that the ferromagnetism was not from the impurity TM metal cluster and may be ascribed to double exchange coupling effects via Li-induced holes.

Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Bi2O2Se with Ag Addition

Polycrystalline Bi2O2Se/Ag nanocomposites were synthesized by spark plasma sintering process. Their thermoelectric properties were evaluated from 300 to 673 K. With the addition of silver, the conductive second phase Ag2Se and Ag can be observed, which results in a significant enhancement of electrical conductivity. The maximum conductivity is 691.8 S cm−1 for Bi2O2Se/20 vol.% Ag, which increased nearly 500 higher times than the pure Bi2O2Se bulk. ZT value can be enhanced greatly, ~0.07, for Bi2O2Se/5 vol.% Ag at 673 K, which is two times larger than the pure sample.

Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of BiCuSeO/Polyaniline Composites

BiCuSeO/polyaniline (BCSO/PANI) bulk composites have been successfully fabricated by a ball-milling and hot-pressing method. Microstructure analysis shows that BCSO particles are well mixed and dispersed in the PANI matrix. Our results indicate that the Seebeck coefficient can be increased substantially by adding BCSO filler to the PANI matrix, especially for 40 wt.% BCSO (5–87 μV K−1). Electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity both change slightly with the increasing filler content. The highest figure of merit, ZT, among these bulk composites is 0.004 at 341 K, which is almost 500 times greater than that of pure PANI.

TRANSPORT PROPERTIES IN MISFIT-LAYERED Ca2Co2O5 COMPOUND

The low temperature transport and magnetic properties were investigated in the misfit-layered Ca2Co2O5 compound. The compound exhibits incommensurate spin-density-wave (SDW) state in the dχ-1/dT curve at 20 K, which is confirmed by the resistivity (ρ) characterization. The resistivity shows an upturn from metallic to insulating behavior at TM-I (130 K) and strong Fermi liquid behaviors with ρ ~ T2 relation between TM-I and T*(225 K). The Seebeck coefficient shows abnormal temperature dependence at Tp (40 K), which is suggested to origin from the long order of atomic in [Ca2CoO3] sublayer and spin fluctuation of Co ions. Moreover, large Seebeck coefficient (120 μV/K) and low thermal conductivity (2.5 W/mK) were obtained at room temperature, indicating that it is a promising p-type thermoelectric material for energy conversion.