Investigation on Low-Temperature Thermoelectric Properties of Ag₂Se Polycrystal Fabricated by Using Zone-Melting Method

Abstract

Silver selenide, Ag₂Se, is a promising low-temperature thermoelectric material which can be used to harvest the low-quality waste heat for electrical power generation or cool the microelectronics. Currently, the investigation on Ag₂Se and its derivatives has become a hot topic in the thermoelectric community, but the thermoelectric properties of Ag₂Se below 300 K have been rarely investigated. In this study, we prepared Ag₂Se by using the zone-melting method. The electrical and thermal transport properties of zone-melted Ag₂Se from 5 to 380 K were systematically investigated and compared with the previously reported data of Ag₂Se and other typical low-temperature thermoelectric materials, such as Mg₃Bi₂, Bi₂Te₃, and BiSb. Ag₂Se shows intrinsic semiconductor features, ultrahigh carrier mobility, small density-of-state effective mass, and ultralow lattice thermal conductivity. At 300 K, the <i>zT</i> of zone-melted Ag₂Se is 0.75. This study will shed light on the further investigation of Ag₂Se.