Liquid–Solid Interface Reactions Drive Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance in Ag<sub>2</sub>Se
Ag<sub>2</sub>Se is a promising n-type thermoelectric material, but its performance is limited by excessive carrier concentration, compositional inhomogeneity, and phase instability, challenges rooted in a narrow homogeneity range and uncontrolled Ag<sup>+</sup> diffusion in the superionic phase. Here, we address these issues by exploiting liquid-solid interface reactions using CdSe complexes that remove surface excess Ag to yield stoichiometric Ag<sub>2</sub>Se and generate CdSe nanodomains that inhibit Ag<sup>+</sup> diffusion and constrain grain growth. The resulting Ag<sub>2</sub>Se-CdSe nanocomposites exhibit a reproducible, stable figure of merit (<i>zT</i>) of 1.04 between 300 and 390 K. Beyond demonstrating high performance, we elucidate the interfacial chemical reactions that give rise to the observed microstructure and transport properties, providing a foundation for rationally engineering interfacial chemistry to tailor transport properties across diverse thermoelectric material systems.
Authors
- Shaoqing Lu
- Jordi Arbiol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0695-1726)
- Aziz Genç (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2888-2549)
- Tobias Kleinhanns (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1537-7436)
- Yu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7313-6740)
- María Chiara Spadaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-0377)
- Sharona Horta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3259-1218)
- Khak Ho Lim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3116-8589)
- Min Hong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6469-9194)
- Lei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9325-0759)
- María Ibáñez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5013-2843)
- Ewelina P. Dutkiewicz-Kopczynska
Institutions
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Anhui University (CN)
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria (AT)
- Hefei University of Technology (CN)
- University of Southern Queensland (AU)
- Hefei University (CN)
- Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ES)
- Quzhou University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2025-08-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c11435
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.62
Funders
- National Computational Infrastructure
- Institute of Science and Technology Austria
- Centres de Recerca de Catalunya
- Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia
- European Commission
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Novo Nordisk Fonden
- Australian Research Council
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- National Cancer Institute