Ultrahigh thermoelectric figure of merit in n-type TiS2 thin films via hybrid superlattice with nanocrystal-amorphous composites
• Hybrid superlattice integrates nanocrystal–amorphous TiS 2 to boost ZT to 2.95 at 235 °C. • Resonance hybridization in composite layers induces DOS distortion for high Seebeck coefficient. • Superlattice and phase-composite synergy suppresses κ L below amorphous limit. Achieving high thermoelectric efficiency requires optimizing both the power factor and thermal conductivity. In this study, we introduce a novel approach to significantly enhance the thermoelectric performance of TiS 2 by incorporating nanocrystal-amorphous composite nanolayers within an organic–inorganic hybrid superlattice. While the suppression of lattice thermal conductivity through enhanced phonon scattering in the superlattice structure is well established, this work uniquely demonstrates a substantial improvement in the Seebeck coefficient, driven by the nanocrystal-amorphous composite. This architecture not only doubles the power factor but also effectively reduces lattice thermal conductivity, resulting in a synergistic effect that achieves a record-breaking figure of merit (ZT) of 2.95 at 235 °C. These results surpass previous TiS 2 -based thermoelectric benchmarks and highlight the potential of this innovative approach to advance the development of highly efficient thermoelectric materials for energy conversion applications.
Authors
- Jaemin Jung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8006-245X)
- Jaeyoung Jang
- Jong Sun Lim
- Sangho Cho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9627-5310)
- Indirajith Palani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2139-7721)
- Myung Mo Sung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2291-5274)
- Jongchan Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0158-1755)
- Duyen Thi Nguyen
- Da Som Song
- J. J. Choi
- Kyeongjae Cho
Institutions
- The University of Texas at Dallas (US)
- Institute of Chemical Technology (IN)
- Hanyang University (KR)
- Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- Korea University of Science and Technology (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Surface Science
- Published
- 2026-01-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2026.165911
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00