Enhanced thermoelectric performance in Cd doped CuInTe2 compounds

CuIn1-xCdxTe2 materials (x = 0, 0.02, 0.05, and 0.1) are prepared using melting-annealing method and the highly densified bulk samples are obtained through Spark Plasma Sintering. The X-ray diffraction data confirm that nearly pure chalcopyrite structures are obtained in all the samples. Due to the substitution of Cd at In sites, the carrier concentration is greatly increased, leading to much enhanced electrical conductivity and power factor. The single parabolic band model is used to describe the electrical transport properties of CuInTe2 and the low temperature Hall mobility is also modeled. By combing theoretical model and experiment data, the optimum carrier concentration in CuInTe2 is proposed to explain the greatly enhanced power factors in the Cd doped CuInTe2. In addition, the thermal conductivity is reduced by extra phonon scattering due to the atomic mass and radius fluctuations between Cd and In atoms. The maximum zTs are observed in CuIn0.98Cd0.02Te2 and CuIn0.9Cd0.1Te2 samples, which are improved by over 100% at room temperature and around 20% at 600 K. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.