Suppressing Thermal Conductivity in SrTiO<sub>3</sub> by Introducing Oxygen Isotope Disorder
Transition metal oxides are promising candidates in the field of thermoelectricity, which can convert heat and electricity into each other and realize the efficient utilization of waste energy. For the figure of merit <i>ZT</i> = <i>S</i><sup>2</sup>σ<i>T</i>/(κ<sub>e</sub> + κ<sub>l</sub>), a lower thermal conductivity is desired for an enhanced <i>ZT</i>, and cation doping is an appropriate way to regulate the thermal transport properties. However, because <i>S</i>, σ, and κ<sub>e</sub> are strongly coupled with each other, cation doping for one parameter modification can generate compensation with others, making regulation more difficult. In this work, we demonstrate the effective engineering of the thermal conductivity of SrTiO<sub>3</sub> films by partial oxygen isotope substitution with <sup>18</sup>O using a straightforward aftergrowth thermal annealing process. The results show that the isotope disorder promotes the scattering of phonons and generates a nearly 20% decreased thermal conductivity of SrTiO<sub>3</sub> films. Our work provides a convenient new route for the design of thermoelectric materials with high <i>ZT</i> values.
Authors
- Shouguo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4488-2645)
- Ningchong Zheng
- Xiaoqing Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0965-8568)
- Riccardo Rurali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-4191)
- Yipeng Zang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6572-0939)
- Fangsen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9233-0650)
- Zhengbin Gu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0107-7432)
- Zhiming Geng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2117-9525)
- Rong Huang
- Xinwei Fang
- Pol Torres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2544-5850)
- Xuejun Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1593-7293)
- Ming‐Hui Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0401-9844)
- Yuefeng Nie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3449-5393)
- Di Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2187-9240)
- Jorge Íñiguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6435-3604)
- Yan‐Feng Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7365-0221)
Institutions
- Anhui University (CN)
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics (CN)
- Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LU)
- Technology Centre Prague (CZ)
- Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ES)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
- Published
- 2025-02-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c03034
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.07
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- National Key Research and Development Program of China