Enhancement in thermoelectric properties of FeSb2 by Sb site deficiency

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that introducing Sb site deficiency in FeSb2 enhances its thermoelectric performance by increasing electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient while reducing thermal conductivity, promising for low-temperature applications.

Contribution

It presents a novel defect engineering approach to improve thermoelectric properties of FeSb2 through Sb site deficiency.

Findings

Sb deficiency of 20% increases electrical conductivity.

Seebeck coefficient is enhanced with Sb deficiency.

Lattice thermal conductivity is suppressed.

Abstract

We report a strategy based on introduction of point defects for improving the thermoelectric properties of FeSb2, a promising candidate for low temperature applications. Introduction of Sb deficiency to the tune of 20% leads to enhancement in the values of electrical conductivity ({\sigma}) and Seebeck coefficient (S) accompanied with a concomitant suppression in lattice thermal conductivity (\k{appa}lat) values in samples prepared using conventional solid state reaction route. These observations in polycrystalline FeSb2-x provides ample motivation for a dedicated exploration of thermoelectric behavior of the corresponding single crystalline as well as hot-pressed polycrystalline counterparts.