PbSe is an attractive thermoelectric material due to its favorable electronic structure, high melting point, and lower cost compared to PbTe. Herein, the hitherto unexplored alloys of PbSe with NaSbSe2(NaPb
Yb10MgSb9is a new Zintl compound (with a composition closer to Yb10.5MgSb9) and a promising thermoelectric material first reported in this work. Undoped Yb10MgSb9has an ultralow thermal conductivity due to crystallographic complexity and exhibits a relatively high peak p‐type Seebeck coefficient and high electrical resistivity. This is consistent with Zintl counting and density functional theory (DFT) calculations that the composition Yb10.5MgSb9should be a semiconductor. Na is found experimentally to be an effective p‐type dopant potentially due to the replacement of Na+for Yb2+, allowing for a significant decrease in electrical resistivity. With doping, a dramatic improvement of electrical conductivity is observed and the glass‐like thermal conductivity remains low, allowing for a significant enhancement of the thermoelectric figure of merit,
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10414422
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 19
- ISSN:
- 1614-6832
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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