Projects and Thesis

Bi2Te3 compounds have been the most widely used traditional TE material in the temperature range of 200 – 400 K for a few decades. To make Bi2Te3-based devices more competitive in large-scale and high-power commercial applications, the ZT of Bi2Te3 materials must be improved significantly. Since the thermal and electrical transport properties are interrelated, it is very difficult to enhance one of them without sacrificing others. Intercalation can be a potential solution to decouple the interrelated thermoelectric properties.

This project aims to identify possible intercalation dopants for p- and n-type Bi2Te3 based materials. Your main task will focus on materials synthesis and structural characterization. The following topics can be offered:

1) transition metal interacted M-Bi2Te1-xSex (M=Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) (2 students)

2) transition metal intercalated M-Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 (M=Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) (2 students)

References:

1. Chunlei Wan et al., Nature Materials, 14, 2015, 622–627.

2. Wenjie Xie et al., Journal of Materials Science, 48, 2013, 2745–2760.

3. Wenjie Xie et al., Applied Physics Letters, 101, 2012, 113902.

4. Wenjie Xie et al., Nano Letters, 10, 2010, 3283-3289.

Contact person: Dr. Wenjie Xie, wenjie.xie@mr.tu-darmstadt.de