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Hippalgaonkar, Kedar

Publications and source records attributed to Hippalgaonkar, Kedar.

High Thermoelectric Performance through Crystal Symmetry Enhancement in Triply Doped Diamondoid Compound Cu 2 SnSe 3

The presence of high crystallographic symmetry and nanoscale defects are favorable for thermoelectrics. With proper electronic structures, a highly symmetric crystal tends to possess multiple carrier channels and promote electrical conductivity without sacrificing Seebeck coefficient. In addition, nanoscale defects can effectively scatter acoustic phonons to suppress thermal conductivity. Here, we report that the triple doping of Cu 2 SnSe 3 leads to a high ZT value of 1.6 at 823 K for Cu 1.85 Ag 0.15 (Sn 0.88 Ga 0.1 Na 0.02 )Se 3 , and a decent average ZT (ZT ave ) value of 0.7 is also achieved for Cu 1.85 Ag 0.15 (Sn 0.93 Mg 0.06 Na 0.01 )Se 3 from 475 to 823 K. Our study reveals: (1) Ag doping on Cu sites generates numerous point defects and greatly decreases lattice thermal conductivity. (2) Doping Mg or Ga converts the monoclinic Cu 2 SnSe 3 into a cubic structure. This symmetry enhancing leads to increase in the effective mass from 0.8 m e to 2.6 m e (m e , free electron mass) and the power factor from 4.3 μW/cm –1 K –2 for Cu 2 SnSe 3 to 11.6 μW/cm –1 K –2 . (3) Na doping creates dense dislocation arrays and nanoprecipitates, which strengthens the phonon scattering. (4) Pair distribution function analysis shows localized symmetry breakdwon in the cubic Cu 1.85 Ag 0.15 (Sn 0.88 Ga 0.1 Na 0.02 )Se 3 . Furthermore, the present work provides a standpoint to design promising thermoelectric materials by synergistically manipulating crystal symmetry and nanoscale defects.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

New horizons in thermoelectric materials: Correlated electrons, organic transport, machine learning, and more

Thermoelectrics represent a unique opportunity in energy to directly convert thermal energy or secondary waste heat into a primary resource. The development of thermoelectric materials has improved over the decades in leaps, rather than by increments-each leap forward has recapitulated the science of its time: from the crystal growth of semiconductors, to controlled doping, to nanostructuring, and to 2D confinement. Each of those leaps forward was, arguably, more a result of materials science than physics. Thermoelectrics is now ripe for another leap forward, and many probable advances rely on new physics outside of the standard band transport model of thermoelectrics. This perspective will cover a limited selection of how thermoelectrics can benefit from new discoveries in physics: wave effects in phonon transport, correlated electron physics, and unconventional transport in organic materials. We also highlight recent developments in thermoelectrics discovery aided by machine learning that may be needed to realize some of these new concepts practically. Looking ahead, developing new thermoelectric physics will also have a concomitant domino effect on adjacent fields, furthering the understanding of nonequilibrium thermal and electronic transport in novel materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Polymer morphology and interfacial charge transfer dominate over energy-dependent scattering in organic-inorganic thermoelectrics

Hybrid (organic-inorganic) materials have emerged as a promising class of thermoelectric materials, achieving power factors (S 2 σ) exceeding those of either constituent. The mechanism of this enhancement is still under debate, and pinpointing the underlying physics has proven difficult. In this work, we combine transport measurements with theoretical simulations and first principles calculations on a prototypical PEDOT:PSS-Te(Cu x ) nanowire hybrid material system to understand the effect of templating and charge redistribution on the thermoelectric performance. Further, we apply the recently developed Kang-Snyder charge transport model to show that scattering of holes in the hybrid system, defined by the energy-dependent scattering parameter, remains the same as in the host polymer matrix; performance is instead dictated by polymer morphology manifested in an energy-independent transport coefficient. We build upon this language to explain thermoelectric behavior in a variety of PEDOT and P3HT based hybrids acting as a guide for future work in multiphase materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

n-Type SnSe 2 Oriented-Nanoplate-Based Pellets for High Thermoelectric Performance

It is reported that electron doped n-type SnSe 2 nanoplates show promising thermoelectric performance at medium temperatures. After simultaneous introduction of Se deficiency and Cl doping, the Fermi level of SnSe 2 shifts toward the conduction band, resulting in two orders of magnitude increase in carrier concentration and a transition to degenerate transport behavior. In addition, all-scale hierarchical phonon scattering centers, such as point defects, nanograin boundaries, stacking faults, and the layered nostructures, cooperate to produce very low lattice thermal conductivity. Lastly, an enhanced in-plane thermoelectric figure of merit ZT max of 0.63 is achieved for a 1.5 at% Cl doped SnSe 1.95 pellet at 673 K, which is much higher than the corresponding in-plane ZT of pure SnSe 2 (0.08).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High thermoelectric power factor in two-dimensional crystals of Mo S 2

The quest for high-efficiency heat-to-electricity conversion has been one of the major driving forces toward renewable energy production for the future. Efficient thermoelectric devices require high voltage generation from a temperature gradient and a large electrical conductivity while maintaining a low thermal conductivity. For a given thermal conductivity and temperature, the thermoelectric power factor is determined by the electronic structure of the material. Low dimensionality (1D and 2D) opens new routes to a high power factor due to the unique density of states (DOS) of confined electrons and holes. The 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors represent a new class of thermoelectric materials not only due to such confinement effects but especially due to their large effective masses and valley degeneracies. Here, we report a power factor of MoS2 as large as 8.5 mW m –1 K –2 at room temperature, which is among the highest measured in traditional, gapped thermoelectric materials. To obtain these high power factors, we perform thermoelectric measurements on few-layer MoS 2 in the metallic regime, which allows us to access the 2D DOS near the conduction band edge and exploit the effect of 2D confinement on electron scattering rates, resulting in a large Seebeck coefficient. We conclude the demonstrated high, electronically modulated power factor in 2D TMDCs holds promise for efficient thermoelectric energy conversion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Tunable Thermal Transport in Polysilsesquioxane (PSQ) Hybrid Crystals

Crystalline polymers have attracted significant interest in recent years due to their enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. As one type of organic-inorganic hybrid polymer crystals, polysilsesquioxane can be synthesized by large-scale and inexpensive so-gel processes with two precursors. In this paper, both octylene-bridged and hexylene-bridged PSQ crystals are characterized with infrared spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography to reveal their super high crystallinity. To study the thermal transport in these unique polymer crystals, we use a suspended micro thermal device to examine their thermal properties from 20 K to 320 K and demonstrate their tunable thermal conductivity by varying the length of alkyl chains. We also conduct non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to study the phonon behaviors across the hydrogen bond interface. The simulation results demonstrate good agreement with the experimental results regarding both the value and trend of the PSQ thermal conductivity. Furthermore, from the simulation, we find that the anharmonic phonon scattering and interfacial anharmnic coupling effects across the hydrogen bond interface may explain the experimentally observed thermal properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Anisotropic in-plane thermal conductivity of black phosphorus nanoribbons at temperatures higher than 100 K

Black phosphorus attracts enormous attention as a promising layered material for electronic, optoelectronic and thermoelectric applications. Here we report large anisotropy in in-plane thermal conductivity of single-crystal black phosphorus nanoribbons along the zigzag and armchair lattice directions at variable temperatures. Thermal conductivity measurements were carried out under the condition of steady-state longitudinal heat flow using suspended-pad micro-devices. We discovered increasing thermal conductivity anisotropy, up to a factor of two, with temperatures above 100 K. A size effect in thermal conductivity was also observed in which thinner nanoribbons show lower thermal conductivity. Analysed with the relaxation time approximation model using phonon dispersions obtained based on density function perturbation theory, the high anisotropy is attributed mainly to direction-dependent phonon dispersion and partially to phonon–phonon scattering. Lastly, our results revealing the intrinsic, orientation-dependent thermal conductivity of black phosphorus are useful for designing devices, as well as understanding fundamental physical properties of layered materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗