Complex Chalcogenides as Thermoelectric Materials: A Solid State Chemistry Approach

A solid state chemical approach to discover new mateials with enhanced thermoelectric properties is described. The aim is to construct three-dimensional bismuth chalcogenide framework structures which contain tonically interacting alkali or alkaline earth atoms. The alkali atoms tend to have soft "rattling" type phonon modes which result in very low thermal conductivity in these materials. Another desirable feature in this class of compounds is the low crystal symmetry and narrow band-gaps. Several promising materials such as BaBiTe3, KBi6.33S10, K2Bi8S13, β-K2Bi8Se13, K2.5Bi8.5Se14, Ba4Bi6Se13, Eu2Pb2Bi6Se13, Al1+xPb4-2xSb7+xSe15 (A=K, Rb), and CsBi4Te6 are described.