Extending the temperature range of the <i>Cmcm</i> phase of SnSe for high thermoelectric performance
Thermoelectric power generation requires high dimensionless figure of merit <i>ZT</i> across broad temperatures. The two-dimensional phonon and three-dimensional charge transports enable n-type-<i>Pnma</i> tin selenide (SnSe) crystals to show a peak <i>ZT</i> of ~3.0 at 748 kelvin. In this work, we focused on the high-symmetry <i>Cmcm</i> phase to boost two-dimensional phonon and three-dimensional charge transports and extended the high-performance (<i>ZT</i> ~ 3.0) plateau. By simultaneously broadening the <i>Cmcm</i>-phase stability window and enhancing lattice symmetry through lead alloying, we extended the high performance from a single temperature point to a wide temperature range of ~250 kelvin in rock salt-like <i>Cmcm</i> SnSe crystals rendered n-type through chlorine doping. An average <i>ZT</i> of ~3.0 was achieved between 673 and 923 kelvin, with a conversion efficiency of ~19.1% under a temperature difference of ~572 kelvin.
Authors
- Dongrui Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4577-6526)
- Li‐Dong Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1247-4345)
- Yongxin Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1699-1369)
- Chao Liang
- Yi Wen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8634-1655)
- Lizhong Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3313-0886)
- Xiang Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7496-158X)
- Cheng Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9515-4277)
- Yixuan Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4117-8572)
- Sining Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7630-4041)
- Shan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5040-4007)
- Rong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0232-0599)
- Xiaoqian Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8675-9311)
- Shulin Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1747-7610)
- Shibo Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0307-817X)
- H. L. Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4547-1538)
- Xiaokun Feng
- Peikang Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5585-7477)
- Tian Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1475-1242)
- Bingchao Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2720-5922)
Institutions
- Taiyuan Heavy Industry (China) (CN)
- Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research (CN)
- Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Beijing International Studies University (CN)
- Beihang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2025-12-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt0831
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.70