Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of Quaternary CuAgSeS Liquid-like Chalcogenides.

Liquid-like binary CuX (X = S, Se, and Te) chalcogenides and their ternary solid solutions have gained notable attention in thermoelectrics due to their interesting and abnormal thermal and electrical transport properties. However, previous studies mainly focus on a single element alloying at either an anion or cation site whereas the investigation on cation/anion co-alloying is very rare so far. Here, a series of quaternary CuAgSeS ( x = 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15) liquid-like copper chalcogenide materials have been fabricated and the effects of Ag/S co-alloying on the thermoelectric properties of CuSe have been systematically studied. It is found that all compounds are mixed phases at room temperature but single cubic phase at high temperatures. The introduction of Ag and S in CuSe brings about a large mass fluctuation rather than strain field fluctuation that effectively suppresses the lattice thermal conductivity. Furthermore, on increasing the Ag and S contents, the high electrical conductivity of pristine CuSe is well tuned to the optimal range derived from the single parabolic band model analysis. Consequently, a peak zT of 1.6 at 900 K is achieved in CuAgSeS, which is about 33% higher than that of binary CuSe.