Excellent Thermoelectric and Mechanical Properties of Ce-Doped Mg3(Sb, Bi)2-Based Materials
Lijun Zhai , Hongxia Liu , Lizhong Su , Yafei Kuang , Fenghua Chen , Yan Zhang , Wenhao Fan , Zhigang Sun
Energy & Environmental Materials ›› 2025, Vol. 8 ›› Issue (6) : e70066
Excellent Thermoelectric and Mechanical Properties of Ce-Doped Mg3(Sb, Bi)2-Based Materials
The emerging n-type Mg3(Sb, Bi)2-based materials have attracted considerable attention for their excellent thermoelectric performance. Whereas, practical thermoelectric device applications require materials that exhibit not only superior thermoelectric performance but also robust mechanical properties. This work systematically investigates the mechanical and thermoelectric properties of Mg3.2-xCexSbBi0.97Te0.03. The x = 0.04 sample exhibits a Vickers hardness of up to 1012 MPa. The compressive and bending stress–strain curves show that minor doping can enhance the strength while maintaining high plasticity. The superior mechanical characteristics are attributed to dense dislocations and lattice distortions induced by Ce doping. Furthermore, the thermoelectric evaluation shows that the trivalent rare earth Ce element acts as a moderately efficient dopant, leading to increased carrier concentration to 4.55 × 1019 cm–3. However, both the electrical conductivity (σ) and Seebeck coefficient (S) gradually decrease with the increase of Ce doping, particularly at high doping levels (x = 0.04 and 0.06), leading to the slight decrease in power factor. Meanwhile, Ce doping introduces point defects, lattice distortions, and dislocations, thereby enhancing the phonon scattering and reducing the lattice thermal conductivity (кL). As a result, an ultralow кL of ~0.51 W m–1 K–1 and a peak zT of ~1.52 are achieved for the sample of x = 0.02. This work provides some insights into the synergistic enhancement of thermoelectric and mechanical properties in Mg3(Sb, Bi)2-based compounds, inspiring further exploration of their practical applications in thermoelectric devices.
lattice thermal conductivity / mechanical property / Mg3(Sb, Bi)2 / rare earth element / thermoelectric material
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2025 The Author(s). Energy & Environmental Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University.
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