A quasi-one-dimensional bulk thermoelectrics with high performance near room temperature

Pursuing efficient thermoelectricity from low-dimensional materials has been highly motivated since the seminal work of Hicks and Dresselhaus. In fact, many superior thermoelectric materials like Bi2Te3, Mg3Sb2/Mg3Bi2 and SnSe are quasi-two-dimensional (q2D), though the advantages of twodimensionality appear to be diverse and sometimes controversial. Here, we report on a remarkably high thermoelectric performance in TlCu3Te2, which is quasi-one-dimensional (q1D) with a further reduced dimension. The thermoelectric figure of merit zT along its q1D axis amounts to 1.3 (1.5) at 300 (400) K, rivaling the best ever reported at these temperatures. The high thermoelectric performances benefit from, on one hand, large power factors derived from a center-hollowed, pancake-like Fermi pocket with q1D dispersion at the edge of a narrow band gap, and on the other hand, small lattice thermal conductivities caused by the large and anharmonic q1D lattice consisting of heavy, lone-pair-electron bearing (Tl+) and weakly-bonded (Cu+) ions. This compound represents the first bulk material with quasiuniaxial thermoelectric transport of application level, offering a renewed opportunity to exploit reduced dimensionality for high-performance thermoelectricity. (c) 2023 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This research reports a compound, TlCu3Te2, with remarkably high thermoelectric performance due to its quasi-one-dimensional structure. The compound exhibits outstanding thermoelectric performance at 300K and 400K, which is attributed to large power factors and small lattice thermal conductivities. It represents the first bulk material with quasi-uniaxial thermoelectric transport and provides a new opportunity for high-performance thermoelectricity.