Transport properties of Layer-Antiferromagnet CuCrS2: A possible thermoelectric material

TL;DR

This study investigates the transport properties of CuCrS2, revealing high thermoelectric efficiency with a figure of merit ZT of 2.3, and discusses its potential as a thermoelectric material based on complex electrical and thermal behaviors.

Contribution

It provides detailed measurements of electrical, thermal, and magnetic properties of CuCrS2, highlighting its high thermoelectric figure of merit and the influence of magnetic transitions on transport properties.

Findings

Seebeck coefficient between 200-450 μV/K

ZT value of 2.3 in quenched phases

reduction in conductivity near antiferromagnetic transition

Abstract

The electrical, thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the quenched, annealed and slowly cooled phases of the layer compound CuCrS2 have been reported between 15K to 300K. We also confirm the antiferromagnetic transition at 40K in them by our magnetic measurements between 2K and 300K. The crystal flakes show a minimum around 100K in their in-plane resistance behavior. For the polycrystalline pellets the resistivity depends on their flaky texture and it attains at most 10 to 20 times of the room temperature value at the lowest temperature of measurement. The temperature dependence is complex and no definite activation energy of electronic conduction can be discerned. We find that the Seebeck coefficient is between 200-450 microV/K and is unusually large for the observed resistivity values of between 5-100 mOhm-cm at room temperature. The figure of merit ZT for the thermoelectric application is 2.3 for our quenched phases, which is much larger than 1 for useful materials. The thermal conductivity K is mostly due to lattice conduction and is reduced by the disorder in Cu- occupancy in our quenched phase. A dramatic reduction of electrical and thermal conductivity is found as the antiferromagnetic transition is approached from the paramagnetic region, and K subsequently rises in the ordered phase. We discuss the transport properties as being similar to a doped Kondo-insulator.