Abstract
Thermoelectric materials provide a key solution to energy problems through the conversion of heat into electrical energy. We report that the complex Zintl compound, Yb 14MnSb 11, breaks a 2-decade stagnation in high-temperature (>900 K), p-type materials development for thermoelectric power generation. This material achieves quadrupled efficiency and virtually doubled figure of merit over the current state-of-the-art, SiGe, thus earmarking it superior for thermoelectric applications in segmented devices. Yb 14MnSb 11 represents the first complex Zintl phase with substantially higher figure of merit and efficiency than any other competing materials, opening a new class of thermoelectric compounds with remarkable chemical and physical properties.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1873-1877 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Chemistry of Materials |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 4 2006 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Chemistry
- Materials Science(all)