Bismuth Doping in Nanostructured Tetrahedrite: Scalable Synthesis and Thermoelectric Performance

Autor: Peter Baláž, Emmanuel Guilmeau, Marcela Achimovičová, Matej Baláž, Nina Daneu, Oleksandr Dobrozhan, Mária Kaňuchová
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nanomaterials, Vol 11, Iss 6, p 1386 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2079-4991
DOI: 10.3390/nano11061386
Popis: In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of Bi-doped tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4−xBixS13 (x = 0.02–0.20) synthesis in an industrial eccentric vibratory mill using Cu, Sb, Bi and S elemental precursors. High-energy milling was followed by spark plasma sintering. In all the samples, the prevailing content of tetrahedrite Cu12Sb4S13 (71–87%) and famatinite Cu3SbS4 (13–21%), together with small amounts of skinnerite Cu3SbS3, have been detected. The occurrence of the individual Cu-Sb-S phases and oxidation states of bismuth identified as Bi0 and Bi3+ are correlated. The most prominent effect of the simultaneous milling and doping on the thermoelectric properties is a decrease in the total thermal conductivity (κ) with increasing Bi content, in relation with the increasing amount of famatinite and skinnerite contents. The lowest value of κ was achieved for x = 0.2 (1.1 W m−1 K−1 at 675 K). However, this sample also manifests the lowest electrical conductivity σ, combined with relatively unchanged values for the Seebeck coefficient (S) compared with the un-doped sample. Overall, the lowered electrical performances outweigh the benefits from the decrease in thermal conductivity and the resulting figure-of-merit values illustrate a degradation effect of Bi doping on the thermoelectric properties of tetrahedrite in these synthesis conditions.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals