Design Principle of Telluride-Based Nanowire Heterostructures for Potential Thermoelectric Applications

Genqiang Zhang, Purdue University
Haiyu Fang, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Haoran Yang, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Luis A. Jauregui, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Yong P. Chen, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Yue Wu, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University

Abstract

We present a design principle to develop new categories of telluride-based thermoelectric nanowire heterostructures through rational solution-phase reactions. The catalyst-free synthesis yields Te-Bi2Te3 "barbell" nanowire heterostructures with a narrow diameter and length distribution as well as a rough control over the density of the hexagonal Bi2Te3 plates on the Te nanowire bodies, which can be further converted to other telluride-based compositional-modulated nanowire heterostructures such as PbTe-Bi2Te3. Initial characterizations of the hot-pressed nanostructured bulk pellets of the Te-Bi2Te3 heterostructure show a largely enhanced Seebeck coefficient and greatly reduced thermal conductivity, which lead to an improved thermoelectric figure of merit. This approach opens up new platforms to investigate the phonon scattering and energy filtering.

Discipline(s)

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology