Thermoelectrics with earth abundant elements: low thermal conductivity and high thermopower in doped SnS

Abstract

We present that earth-abundant and environmentally friendly SnS is a promising thermoelectric material due to its high <italic>ZT</italic> of 0.6 despite its relatively wide band gap of 1.2 eV. Ag doping significantly improved electrical conductivity but maintained the Seebeck coefficient above 400 μV K⁻¹ and the thermal conductivity below 0.45 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 873 K.