Coelho Rodrigo, Moço Duarte, Sá Ana I de, Luz Paulo P da, Neves Filipe, Cerqueira Maria de Fátima, Lopes Elsa B, Brito Francisco P, Mangelis Panagiotis, Kyratsi Theodora, Gonçalves António P
Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares (DECN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal.
Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, I.P., Campus do Lumiar, Estrada do Paço do Lumiar, 22, 1649-038 Lisboa, Portugal.
Nanomaterials (Basel). 2025 Feb 24;15(5):351. doi: 10.3390/nano15050351.
Thermoelectric (TE) materials offer a promising solution to reduce green gas emissions, decrease energy consumption, and improve energy management due to their ability to directly convert heat into electricity and vice versa. Despite their potential, integrating new TE materials into bulk TE devices remains a challenge. To change this paradigm, the preparation of highly efficient tetrahedrite nanocomposites is proposed. Tetrahedrites were first prepared by solid state reaction, followed by the addition of MoS nanoparticles (NPs) and hot-pressing at 848 K with 56 MPa for a duration of 90 min to obtain nanocomposites. The materials were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDS, and Raman spectroscopy to evaluate the composites' matrix and NP distribution. To complement the results, lattice thermal conductivity and the weighted mobility were evaluated. The NPs' addition to the tetrahedrites resulted in an increase of 36% of the maximum figure of merit (zT) comparatively with the base material. This increase is explained by the reduction of the material's lattice thermal conductivity while maintaining its mobility. Such results highlight the potential of nanocomposites to contribute to the development of a new generation of TE devices based on more affordable and efficient materials.
热电（TE）材料因其能够直接将热转化为电以及反之亦然的能力，为减少温室气体排放、降低能源消耗和改善能源管理提供了一个有前景的解决方案。尽管它们具有潜力，但将新型TE材料集成到块状TE器件中仍然是一个挑战。为了改变这种模式，提出了制备高效黝铜矿纳米复合材料的方法。首先通过固态反应制备黝铜矿，然后添加MoS纳米颗粒（NPs），并在848 K、56 MPa下热压90分钟以获得纳米复合材料。通过X射线衍射（XRD）、扫描电子显微镜-能谱分析（SEM-EDS）和拉曼光谱对材料进行表征，以评估复合材料的基体和NP分布。为补充结果，还评估了晶格热导率和加权迁移率。与基础材料相比，向黝铜矿中添加NPs导致最大品质因数（zT）提高了36%。这种提高是由于材料的晶格热导率降低同时保持其迁移率所致。这些结果突出了纳米复合材料在基于更经济高效材料的新一代TE器件开发中做出贡献的潜力。
