| Autor: |
Garmroudi F; Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria., Parzer M; Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria., Riss A; Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria., Bourgès C; International Center for Young Scientists (ICYS), National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan., Khmelevskyi S; Research Center for Computational Materials Science and Engineering, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria., Mori T; International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan.; Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan., Bauer E; Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria., Pustogow A; Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Wien, 1040 Vienna, Austria. |
| Abstrakt: |
Thermoelectric materials seamlessly convert thermal into electrical energy, making them promising for power generation and cooling applications. Although historically the thermoelectric effect was first discovered in metals, state-of-the-art research focuses on semiconductors. Here, we discover unprecedented thermoelectric performance in metals and realize ultrahigh power factors up to 34 mW m -1 K -2 in binary Ni x Au 1- x alloys, more than twice larger than in any bulk material above room temperature, reaching zT max ∼ 0.5. In metallic Ni x Au 1- x alloys, large Seebeck coefficients originate from electron-hole selective scattering of Au s electrons into more localized Ni d states. This intrinsic energy filtering effect owing to the unique band structure yields a strongly energy-dependent carrier mobility. While the metastable nature of the Ni-Au system as well as the high cost of Au pose some constraints for practical applications, our work challenges the common belief that good metals are bad thermoelectrics and presents an auspicious route toward high thermoelectric performance exploiting interband scattering. |
