Thermoelectric transport behaviours of n-type Mg2 (Si,Sn,Ge) quaternary solid solutions

Abstract

Mg2X (X=Si, Sn, and Ge) based systems have attracted widespread attention owing to their various benefits in thermoelectric applications. In particular, to date, ternary Mg2X based solid solutions have become one of the most widely investigated thermoelectric systems. However, the investigation of temperature varied thermoelectric properties of Mg2X based quaternary systems is rather limited both theoretically and experimentally. Therefore, here, we report a rigorous theoretical work of thermoelectric properties for n-type Mg2Si0.55−zSn0.4Ge0.05Biz quaternary solid solutions (z = 0.02, 0.025, 0.03, and 0.035) from 300 K to 850 K. By using nearly-free-electron model together with Fermi–Dirac statistics we define Fermi level both in extrinsic and intrinsic regimes as a function of temperature. We follow Hicks and Dresselhaus’ approach to calculate electronic transport properties. By performing the Debye’s isotropic continuum model a detailed theoretical investigation of lattice thermal conductivity is presented among with various phonon relaxation rates. From our theoretical analysis the highest ZT is attained for Mg2Si0.53Sn0.4Ge0.05Bi0.02 solid solution as 1.14 at 850 K.