Zintl-phase Eu 2 ZnSb 2 : A promising thermoelectric material with ultralow thermal conductivity

Zintl compounds are considered to be potential thermoelectric materials due to their “phonon glass electron crystal” (PGEC) structure. A promising Zintl-phase thermoelectric material, 2-1-2–type Eu2ZnSb2 (P63/mmc), was prepared and investigated. The extremely low lattice thermal conductivity is attr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2019-02, Vol.116 (8)
Main Authors: Chen, Chen, Xue, Wenhua, Li, Shan, Zhang, Zongwei, Li, Xiaofang, Wang, Xinyu, Liu, Yijie, Sui, Jiehe, Liu, Xingjun, Cao, Feng, Ren, Zhifeng, Chu, Ching-Wu, Wang, Yumei, Zhang, Qian
Format: Article
Language:English
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Science & Technology - Other Topics
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Summary:Zintl compounds are considered to be potential thermoelectric materials due to their “phonon glass electron crystal” (PGEC) structure. A promising Zintl-phase thermoelectric material, 2-1-2–type Eu2ZnSb2 (P63/mmc), was prepared and investigated. The extremely low lattice thermal conductivity is attributed to the external Eu atomic layers inserted in the [Zn2Sb2]2- network in the structure of 1-2-2–type EuZn2Sb2 (P3¯m1) , as well as the abundant inversion domain boundary. By regulating the Zn deficiency, the electrical properties are significantly enhanced, and the maximum ZT value reaches ~1.0 at 823 K for Eu2Zn0.98Sb2. Our discovery provides a class of Zintl thermoelectric materials applicable in the medium-temperature range.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1819157116