Synthesis and thermoelectric properties of noble metal ternary chalcogenide systems of Ag-Au-Se in the forms of alloyed nanoparticles and colloidal nanoheterostructures

The optimization of a material functionality requires both the rational design and precise engineering of its structural and chemical parameters. In this work, we show how colloidal chemistry is an excellent synthetic choice for the synthesis of novel ternary nanostructured chalcogenides, containing...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Dalmases, Mariona, Ibañez, María, Torruella, Pau, Fernàndez Altables, Victor, López-Conesa, Lluis, Piveteau, Laura, Nachtegaal, Maarten, Llorca Piqué, Jordi|||0000-0002-7447-9582, Ruiz González, Maria Luisa, Estradé, Sònia, Peiró, Francesca, Kovalenko, Maksym V., Cabot, Andreu, Figuerola, Albert
Format: article
Publication Date:2016
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/100417
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/100417
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b02845
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Nanotechnology
Nanostructured materials
Nanochemistry
Nanotecnologia
Materials nanoestructurats
Microquímica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria química
Description
Summary:The optimization of a material functionality requires both the rational design and precise engineering of its structural and chemical parameters. In this work, we show how colloidal chemistry is an excellent synthetic choice for the synthesis of novel ternary nanostructured chalcogenides, containing exclusively noble metals, with tailored morphology and composition and with potential application in the energy conversion field. Specifically, the Ag–Au–Se system has been explored from a synthetic point of view, which leads to a set of Ag2Se-based hybrid and ternary nanoparticles including the room temperature synthesis of the rare ternary Ag3AuSe2 fischesserite phase. An in-depth structural and chemical characterization of all nanomaterials has been performed, which proofed especially useful for unravelling the reaction mechanism behind the formation of the ternary phase in solution. The work is complemented with the thermal and electric characterization of a ternary Ag–Au–Se nanocomposite with promising results: we found that the use of the ternary nanocomposite represents a clear improvement in terms of thermoelectric energy conversion as compared to a binary Ag–Se nanocomposite analogue.