Room-temperature FeSi2-doped Cu2Se thermoelectric films with enhanced figure of merit
Thermoelectric (TE) materials offer a promising pathway toward achieving carbon neutrality by converting waste heat into electricity. The enhancement of their figure-of-merit (zT) depends on optimizing the composition of materials and nanostructures, reducing the thermal conductivity, and increasing the power factor. Cu<sub>2</sub>Se, a superionic material, achieves a zT of 0.4 at 300 K by facilitating Cu ion movement within its face-centered cubic lattice, effectively suppressing thermal conductivity. Herein, we present a novel TE material developed by doping Cu<sub>x</sub>Se crystals of different compositions with FeSi<sub>2</sub>. We report a remarkable zT of 0.69 at 298 K for Cu<sub>2</sub>Se-based materials and reveal the presence of the CuO and Cu<sub>2</sub>O tiny crystals on the material surface, uniform dispersion of Si within the film, and formation of distinctive amorphous FeO. Our strategy holds great potential for notably advancing waste heat recovery in sustainable TE materials.
Authors
- Toru Hara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-6444)
- Taku Moronaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6915-0627)
- Masahiro Goto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1003-2781)
- Yibin Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8600-8748)
- Michiko Sasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2336-5788)
Institutions
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-07-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-12345-4
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Japan Science and Technology Agency
- National Institute for Materials Science
- Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology