Phase interface engineering enables state-of-the-art half-Heusler thermoelectrics

Yihua Zhang; Guyang Peng; Shuankui Li; Haijun Wu; Kaidong Chen; Jiandong Wang; Zhihao Zhao; Tu Lyu; Yuan Yu; Chaohua Zhang; Yang Zhang; Chuansheng Ma; Shengwu Guo; Xiangdong Ding; Jun Sun; Fusheng Liu; Lipeng Hu

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50371-4

Phase interface engineering enables state-of-the-art half-Heusler thermoelectrics

Nat Commun. 2024 Jul 16;15(1):5978. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50371-4.

Authors

Yihua Zhang^#^{1

2}, Guyang Peng^#², Shuankui Li^#³, Haijun Wu⁴, Kaidong Chen¹, Jiandong Wang², Zhihao Zhao², Tu Lyu¹, Yuan Yu⁵, Chaohua Zhang¹, Yang Zhang^{6

7}, Chuansheng Ma⁷, Shengwu Guo², Xiangdong Ding⁸, Jun Sun², Fusheng Liu⁹, Lipeng Hu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Deep Earth Sciences and Geothermal Energy Exploitation and Utilization, Institute of Deep Earth Sciences and Green Energy, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
² State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
³ School of Physics and Materials Science, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China. wuhaijunnavy@xjtu.edu.cn.
⁵ Institute of Physics (IA), RWTH Aachen University, Sommerfeldstraße 14, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
⁶ Electronic Materials Research Laboratory (Key Lab of Education Ministry) and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
⁷ Instrumental Analysis Center of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
⁸ State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China. dingxd@xjtu.edu.cn.
⁹ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Deep Earth Sciences and Geothermal Energy Exploitation and Utilization, Institute of Deep Earth Sciences and Green Energy, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China. fsliu@szu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ College of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Special Functional Materials, Guangdong Research Center for Interfacial Engineering of Functional Materials, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Deep Earth Sciences and Geothermal Energy Exploitation and Utilization, Institute of Deep Earth Sciences and Green Energy, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China. hulipeng@szu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

In thermoelectric, phase interface engineering proves effective in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity via interface scattering and amplifying the density-of-states effective mass by energy filtering. However, the indiscriminate introduction of phase interfaces inevitably leads to diminished carrier mobility. Moreover, relying on a singular energy barrier is insufficient for comprehensive filtration of low-energy carriers throughout the entire temperature range. Addressing these challenges, we advocate the establishment of a composite phase interface using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology. This design aims to effectively decouple the interrelated thermoelectric parameters in ZrNiSn. The engineered coherent dual-interface energy barriers substantially enhance the density-of-states effective mass across the entire temperature spectrum while preser carrier mobility. Simultaneously, the strong interface scattering on phonons is crucial for curtailing lattice thermal conductivity. Consequently, a 40-cycles TiO₂ coating on ZrNi_1.03Sn_0.99Sb_0.01 achieves an unprecedented zT value of 1.3 at 873 K. These findings deepen the understanding of coherent composite-phase interface engineering.