SnSe: Kx intermetallic thermoelectric polycrystals prepared by arc-melting

Neutron powder diffraction and thermoelectric characterization of SnSe:Kx intermetallic alloys are presented. Nanostructured ingots were prepared by arc-melting elemental tin and selenium along with potassium hydride. Up to x = 0.1 of K can be incorporated into SnSe. Rietveld refinement of the diffr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gainza, Javier, Molto, Sergio, Serrano Sánchez, Federico, Dura, Óscar, Fernández Díaz, Maria Teresa, Biskup Zaja, Nevenko, Martínez, Jose Luis, Alonso, José Antonio, Nemes, Norbert Marcel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/91198
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/91198
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:538.9
Low thermal conductivity
Transport properties
Skutterudites
Electron
Impact
Charge
Merit
PBTE
Física de materiales
2211 Física del Estado Sólido
Descripción
Sumario:Neutron powder diffraction and thermoelectric characterization of SnSe:Kx intermetallic alloys are presented. Nanostructured ingots were prepared by arc-melting elemental tin and selenium along with potassium hydride. Up to x = 0.1 of K can be incorporated into SnSe. Rietveld refinement of the diffractograms locates potassium on the Sn site in the high-temperature Cmcm structure. However, in the low-temperature Pnma structure, K cannot be localized by difference Fourier maps, indicating the incorporation of K in a disordered form in the interlayer space. STEM-EELS indicates the incorporation of K into the SnSe grains. The resistivity upon K-doping at intermediate temperatures decreases by 1–2 orders of magnitude, but at high temperature is higher than the undoped SnSe. The Seebeck coefficient of K-doped SnSe remains p-type and almost temperature independent (400 μV/K for x = 0.1). The ultralow thermal conductivity of undoped SnSe decreases further upon K-doping to below 0.3 W/m K.