title: Semiconductor nanocrystals functionalized with antimony telluride zintl ions for nanostructured thermoelectrics.
abstract: The energy efficiency of heat engines could be improved by the partial recovery of waste heat using thermoelectric (TE) generators. We show the possibility of designing nanostructured TE materials using colloidal inorganic nanocrystals functionalized with molecular antimony telluride complexes belonging to the family of Zintl ions. The unique advantage of using Zintl ions as the nanocrystal surface ligands is the possibility to convert them into crystalline metal chalcogenides, thus linking individual nanobuilding blocks into a macroscopic assembly of electronically coupled functional modules. This approach allows preserving the benefits of nanostructuring and quantum confinement while enabling facile charge transport through the interparticle boundaries. A developed methodology was applied for solution-based fabrication of nanostructured n- and p-type Bi(2-x)Sb(x)Te(3) alloys with tunable composition and PbTe-Sb(2)Te(3) nanocomposites with controlled grain size. Characterization of the TE properties of these materials showed that their Seebeck coefficients, electrical and thermal conductivities, and ZT values compared favorably with those of previously reported solution-processed TE materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. mvkovalenko@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Maksym V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Kovalenko
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spokoyny
authors.forename: Jong-Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheele
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Susanthri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Dmitri V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Talapin