03 September 2024 | Yunpeng Zheng, Qinghua Zhang, Caijuan Shi, Zhifang Zhou, Yang Lu, Jian Han, Hetian Chen, Yunpeng Ma, Yujun Zhang, Changpeng Lin, Wei Xu, Weigang Ma, Qian Li, Yueyang Yang, Bin Wei, Bingbing Yang, Mingchu Zou, Wenyu Zhang, Chang Liu, Lyve Dou, Dongliang Yang, Jin-Le Lan, Di Yi, Xing Zhang, Lin Gu & Ce-Wen Nan & Yuan-Hua Lin
This study presents an entropy engineering strategy to achieve carrier-phonon decoupling in SrTiO₃-based perovskite thermoelectrics, significantly enhancing their thermoelectric figure of merit (zT). By introducing high entropy through solid solutions of Ba, Ca, and Pb at A sites, the lattice thermal conductivity was reduced to nearly the amorphous limit (1.25 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), while the weighted mobility was improved to 65 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. This decoupling led to a remarkable increase in μ_W/κ_L of -5.2 × 10³ cm³ K⁻¹ V⁻¹. The maximum zT of 0.24 at 488 K and an estimated zT of ~0.8 at 1173 K in (Sr₀.₂Ba₀.₂Ca₀.₂Pb₀.₂La₀.₂)TiO₃ films represent among the best results for n-type thermoelectric oxides. The entropy engineering strategy effectively decouples carrier-phonon transport by tuning A-site disorder, reducing lattice thermal conductivity, and modulating A-site radius and tolerance factor, thereby improving carrier mobility. The results demonstrate that entropy engineering is a promising approach to enhance zT in thermoelectrics by decoupling carrier-phonon transport. The study highlights the importance of entropy engineering in achieving high-performance thermoelectric materials through the rational design of A-site composition and structure.This study presents an entropy engineering strategy to achieve carrier-phonon decoupling in SrTiO₃-based perovskite thermoelectrics, significantly enhancing their thermoelectric figure of merit (zT). By introducing high entropy through solid solutions of Ba, Ca, and Pb at A sites, the lattice thermal conductivity was reduced to nearly the amorphous limit (1.25 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹), while the weighted mobility was improved to 65 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. This decoupling led to a remarkable increase in μ_W/κ_L of -5.2 × 10³ cm³ K⁻¹ V⁻¹. The maximum zT of 0.24 at 488 K and an estimated zT of ~0.8 at 1173 K in (Sr₀.₂Ba₀.₂Ca₀.₂Pb₀.₂La₀.₂)TiO₃ films represent among the best results for n-type thermoelectric oxides. The entropy engineering strategy effectively decouples carrier-phonon transport by tuning A-site disorder, reducing lattice thermal conductivity, and modulating A-site radius and tolerance factor, thereby improving carrier mobility. The results demonstrate that entropy engineering is a promising approach to enhance zT in thermoelectrics by decoupling carrier-phonon transport. The study highlights the importance of entropy engineering in achieving high-performance thermoelectric materials through the rational design of A-site composition and structure.